Wall Street protests to target NYC millionaires

The protesters from the Occupy Boston movement were arrested after they ignored warnings to move from a downtown greenway near where they have been camped out for more than a week, police said.

Police spokesman Jamie Kenneally said the arrests began about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and were mostly for trespassing. A conservancy group recently planted $150,000 worth of shrubs along the greenway and officials said they were concerned about damage.

Hundreds of college students marched through downtown Boston on Monday and gathered on Boston Common, holding signs that read "Fund education, not corporations." The protesters are angry with an education system they say mimics "irresponsible, unaccountable, and unethical financial practices" of Wall Street.

During the New York City march on Tuesday afternoon, protesters will bear oversize checks, intended to symbolise how much less the wealthy will pay when New York's two per cent "millionaires' tax" expires in December.

The marchers plan to visit the homes of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and oil tycoon David Koch, among others. They don't have a permit, but will walk in a narrow column so they don't block sidewalks, according to Doug Forand, a protest leader.

Forand, citing budget cuts affecting schools and senior citizens, said the state's plan to end the "millionaires' tax" is "unconscionable" and urged lawmakers to extend it.

Asked if he thought any of the millionaires would be home, Forand replied, "They don't share their schedules with me, but probably not."

Pressure on

On Tuesday, several hundred protesters marched around the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.

The police presence is constant, and comes with a price tag. The New York Police Department already has spent US$1.9 million, mostly in overtime pay, to patrol the area near Zuccotti Park, where hundreds of protesters have camped out for several weeks. Though cold weather is on the way, they're prepared to stay put for the long haul.

The expense comes at a time when Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered city-wide budget cuts.

"The bottom line is that people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we allow them to," Bloomberg told reporters Monday when asked about the protesters' staying power. "If they break the laws, then we're going to do what we're supposed to do - enforce the laws."

Last week, Bloomberg ordered all agencies to prepare to cut expenses by a total of US$2 billion during the next 18 months. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the budget cuts may cause the cancellation of a new class of police officers entering the academy in January.