Fwd: Defend the Albany Occupation! Get on the bus to Albany Thursday morning

[Doug Singsen]

The rally/occupation in Albany against Cuomo's budget cuts is continuing overnight tonight. In NYC, we are working on sending more people up to Albany to continue the occupation tomorrow. Some of today's protesters will be heading home tomorrow morning, but others are planning on staying at least through Thursday evening and are working to get more people there to continue the protest. See below for media reports and more analysis. If you aren't in Albany already, please consider getting there first thing tomorrow morning to support this important protest.

Doug Singsen
CUNY Mobilization Network

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Doug Singsen <dougs...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 10:49 PM
Subject: Defend the Albany Occupation! Get on the bus to Albany Thursday morning
To: no-budget-cuts-ny-discussion <no-budget-cuts...@googlegroups.com>, no-budget-cuts-ny-announcements <no-budget-cuts-...@googlegroups.com>, CUNY Movement <cuny_m...@lists.riseup.net>, march-4-ed...@googlegroups.com, defen...@googlegroups.com, CUNY Students Unite <cuny-stud...@googlegroups.com>, ADJU...@gc.listserv.cuny.edu, CUNY Contingents Discussion <cuny-continge...@googlegroups.com>, CCU Announcements <cunycon...@googlegroups.com>

*** Please Forward Widely! ***

EMERGENCY MOBILIZATION TO ALBANY THURSDAY MORNING

As you may have seen on the news tonight, 700 protesters rallied inside the capitol building in Albany today to protest Gov. Cuomo's draconian cuts to social services including education, health care, senior centers and more. The atmosphere inside the capitol was described as Wisconsin-like by people there. 200 to 300 protesters are staying overnight inside the capitol. Some of the protesters from Wednesday will be departing tomorrow morning, but others are planning on staying in the capitol. It's not clear right now how many will continue to protest inside the capitol tomorrow, but if more waves of protesters arrive at the capitol tomorrow, we can keep this rally/occupation going, especially if the legislature does not finish passing the budget tonight. It's been reported that the legislature started its session an hour and a half late and will keep working late into the night, so it's very possible that the voting will continue tomorrow. If that is the case, we can continue applying pressure to the lawmakers and making our voices heard throughout New York and beyond. If you are able to go to Albany tomorrow, this is an amazing opportunity to be part of an important political moment in building a movement against budget cuts, austerity, attacks on public sector workers and defending vital public services.

Grayhound buses run every 90 minutes to 2 hours from the Port Authority at 8th Ave and 42nd St. Round trip tickets are $38. Buses depart at 7 AM, 8:30 AM, 9:45 AM, 11:15 AM, 1:00 PM, and 2:30 PM. Once you get to Albany, the state capitol is less than a mile uphill, away from the river. Getting to Albany early tomorrow will be key to continuing the rally/occupation, so the earlier people can leave the better. If you are able to go to Albany, please send an email to deon....@gmail.com so we can tell our allies in Albany how many people to expect.

Media reports on the budget protests:
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/136482/albany-protesters-object-to-budget-cuts-as-lawmakers-pass-bills
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/nyregion/31nybudget.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=8044149
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/27/gov-cuomo-legislature-agree-to-tentative-budget/