Occupy Wall Street protesters stay at $700-a-night hotel

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Post:

Hell no, we won’t go — unless we get goose down pillows.

A key Occupy Wall Street leader and another protester who leads a double life as a businessman ditched fetid tents and church basements for rooms at a luxurious hotel that promises guests can “unleash [their] inner Gordon Gekko,” The Post has learned.

The $700-per-night W Hotel Downtown last week hosted both Peter Dutro, one of a select few OWS members on the powerful finance committee, and Brad Spitzer, a California-based analyst who not only secretly took part in protests during a week-long business trip but offered shelter to protesters in his swanky platinum-card room.

“Tents are not for me,” he confessed, when confronted in the sleek black lobby of the Washington Street hotel where sources described him as a “repeat” guest.

Spitzer, 24, an associate at financial-services giant Deloitte, which netted $29 billion in revenue last year, admitted he joined the protest at Zuccotti Park several times.

“I’m staying here for work,” said Spitzer, dressed down in a company T-shirt and holding a backpack and his suitcase. “I do finance, but I support it still.”

During his stay, hotel sources said, he and other ragtag revolutionaries he brought into the hotel lived like 1 percenters. He would order up a roll-out bed to accommodate guests, they said.

“He’s here all the time,” a hotel source said. “We all see him at the protest.”

Spitzer denied sheltering Occupiers. He claimed he only invited in a blogger buddy living at the park to wash off his camp grime.

Meanwhile, Dutro, 35, one of only a handful of OWS leaders in charge of the movement’s $500,000 in donations, checked in on Wednesday, the night after police emptied Zuccotti Park.

While hundreds of his rebel brethren scrambled to find shelter in church basements, Dutro chose the five-star, 58-story hotel, with its lush rooms and 350-count Egyptian cotton sheets. He lives only a short taxi ride away in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

“I knew everything was going to be a clusterf--k in the morning,” he told The Post, alluding to Occupy’s own disruption plans. “How would I get over the bridge when they were shutting it down?”

The tattoo artist-turned-Occupy money man took the elevator up to the fifth-floor welcome desk, where a disc jockey spins tunes and guests enjoy a vista of the growing freedom tower.

He said he spent $500 of his own money to get the room because he wanted a good night’s rest ahead of the cause’s two-month ceremony the next day and raucous post-raid protests.

“I knew . . . there was a high probability of getting arrested,” he said. “I wanted a nice room. That’s OK. Not everybody there is dirt poor.”

He paid for the palace with his American Express card.

“It is an expensive hotel. Whatever,” he said.
________

Some Occupyers are more equal than others. Whatever.

[Saltbag]

Do they charge extra for fleas and head lice? I've never seen that itemized on my bill.

 

I agree with fill in the blank radio pundit. These occupiers are a boon to the cause. Every day they're out there, we can stay comfy in our homes, point out the window, and say "not that."

[Valin]

WSJ: Are Tent Cities Free Speech?

The First Amendment does not protect behavior that threatens health and safety.

L. GORDON CROVITZ

11/21/11

 

Last week, the New York City Police Department's First Precinct issued the latest crime statistics. Typical offenses in the financial district and Tribeca usually are limited to minor matters such as hawking fake Rolexes and operating unlicensed food carts. This time there was a big increase in violent crimes. "Almost all of these crimes were in and around Zuccotti Park," commanding officer Edward Winski reported, adding wryly: "Many of these were assaults against police officers."

 

From Oakland, Calif., to Portland, Ore., to New York, the Occupy Wall Street movement has worn out the patience of even the most liberal cities. The protesters were shocked when politicians stopped excusing their unlawful behavior by referring to their First Amendment rights and instead forcibly removed their tent cities as threats to health and safety.

 

The protesters never-ending endgame is a reminder that under the First Amendment, speech may be subject to time, place and manner restrictions that do not include the concept of "occupation."

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Bloomberg Video Here



OWS been very very good to me!

[NCTexan]

Stealing shamelessly from Rush's show today...

 

I incorporated his cutting edge thoughts into a highly marketable bumper sticker.

 

[SrWoodchuck]

H/T:JoeTapias

[Pepper]

SrWoodChuck!

 

“Tents are not for me,” he confessed, when confronted in the sleek black lobby of the Washington Street hotel where sources described him as a “repeat” guest.

 

What a sniveling putz. He wouldn't last an hour on Boy Scout trip and perhaps a nano second with Rangers.

[Valin]

H/T:JoeTapias