Video: the drummers from Occupy Wall St. and Norman Siegel gather around the corner from Bloomberg's residence

This afternoon, I went to see the drummers who, after being kicked out of Zuccotti Park, decided to protest outside Bloomberg's townhouse on E. 79 St.  Sadly, the police blocked off the street, but the drummers gathered anyway on 5th avenue next to Central Park instead.

As you will see in the video below, I bumped into my hero, Norman Siegel, who told us that barring the drummers from E. 79 St. was a violation of their first amendment rights.  In fact, in January 2010, Norman sued the city on behalf of teachers and parents, and we gained the right to march on the south side of 79 St.., to protest school closings and charter co-locations.

Off camera, Norman also said that the arrests of reporters that I videotaped a week ago were illegal , and that he had sent a letter written with Sen. Eric Adams to Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly to that effect. Because of Norman's work, NYC press credentials now require that reporters have to right to cross any barriers, along with police lines etc. During the course of his conversation with a reporter who had been assaulted by the police, we also found out that tomorrow Norman Siegel will turn 68 years young. Happy Birthday Norman!