Union Square

Courtesy of Forgotten Delights

George Washington, by Henry Kirke Brown, dedicated 1856.

South side of Union Square, facing 14th St. between University Place and Broadway. 

Occupy Wall Street reports that a number of demonstrators have moved from Liberty Square to Union Square where several OWS protests have previously converged.  About 70 protesters have slept overnight at Union Square without tents, but blankets and sleeping gear, some calling it "The New Occupation."

The OWS website is providing directions to get to Union Square and a message to NYPD: 

Squash us in one park, we will reappear in another! You cannot evict an idea whose time has come!

Protesters should go to the south side of the park, on the concrete part by the steps.

General Strike

CBS news and The Wall Street Journal report that OWS activists, apparently at a news conference today at Liberty Square, have called for a May 1st general strike over the newspapers' arrest count of 73 individuals. 

I don't see any announcement yet at the OWS website.  However, Union Square - according to Wiki - has "historically been the start or end point for many political demonstrations" in New York City.  Below, a photograph from a 1913 May 1st demonstration from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online:

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Posted by Goldsztajn

Crowd gathered in Union Square, New York City during the May Day parade, May 1, 1913.

Signs in Yiddish, Italian and English. 

Petition

In response to NYPD violence against Occupy Wall Street protesters, YourAnonymousNews is circulating a petition calling for" full, independent investigation by the state Attorney General into the active suppression of the movement by the New York Police Department including, but not limited to:

1. The use of taxpayer funds to infiltrate and monitor peaceful Occupy protest planning

2. Departmental practices that lead to, or allow for, the violent dispersal of crowds and the violent arrest of protestors

3. Civil rights violations of protestors by the police"

Editor's Note:  Revision.  This post incorrectly reported earlier that some protesters had moved to Union Square, with 70 sleeping overnnight without tents at Liberty Square.  The 70 protesters, however, stayed overnight at Union Square.  So this blog is understanding that OWS is, indeed, moving to Union Square, and other news reports since initial posting confirm OWS announcements for a May 1, 2012 General Strike (for example, here).  I suppose developments in the days to come will provide further clarification one way or another about locations and events.