Not Japan. New York. Involves a different kind of police crackdown, in which bikes became part of the solution.
Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg outsmarted at every turn by smelly, unemployed, directionless kids
Last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg hoped to use an unannounced "health and safety inspection" to shut down #OccupyWallStreet once and for all. With cold weather coming, the NYPD and FDNY raided Zuccotti Park and seized the fuel and generators used by the demonstrators to power their media center and kitchen, among other necessities.
To many, it looked bleak for the movement. But the Occupiers are a resourceful bunch. Not inclined to surrender, a group of them drove up to Boston where they acquired a bunch of bicycle-based generators.
A cycling advocacy group called Times Up, helped out the demonstrators, doing an energy map of the park and determining that it would take 11 stationary bicycles pedaled continuously to keep everything humming. The bikes generate batteries which can last up to 100 hours and take care of all the Occupier's electricity needs. But it will take a lot of pedaling:
"It can take up to two hours of uninterrupted pedaling to reach 12.5 volts," said Ben Tevelow, an electrician from Brooklyn. He decided to join the project and put his skills to use when he heard about it in General Assembly.
We understand that there are about six bicycles hooked up right now, with several more to be assembled and put on the grid in the next few days. According to #OccupyWallStreet, it takes continuous pedaling of three bicycles to keep the media center running.
The bicycle generators give the saying "Power to the people" a whole new meaning.
