Late last year, when Occupy Wall Street was kicked out of Zuccotti Park, protestors marched north and tried to occupy another public-private space, Duarte Square. They didn’t last long in the space, thanks to aggressive policing and a less-than-hospitable landlord. A spokesman for Trinity Church, which owns the space (and had previously supported the movement), described the attempted occupation as “Wrong, unsafe, unhealthy and potentially injurious.”
Duarte Square happens to be across the street from New York’s offices, though we’d barely noticed it before the Occupy fracas. Normally, it’s a barren, gravel-filled space filled with seldom-used green chairs. This morning, there were four artisanal food trucks parked inside the park. There will eventually be six parked there three times a week, Jordi Loaeza, the 20-year-old co-owner of Mexico Blvd., told Daily Intel, pending final official approval from Trinity, which he says is “absolutely” a done deal.
Loaeza says he reads the Occupy Wall Street blog, and agrees with “parts.” “I did hear that they kicked them out of this lot, but we pay to be here, ” he says. “This gets trucks off the street.” And fits better into Trinity’s image of the neighborhood: The church, which owns a large block of real estate, has worked hard to rebrand the corridor, which it dubbed “Hudson Square,” into a tech and media hot spot. The neighborhood is trading one revolution (a little last-year) for another (very now). Let them eat kimchee tacos.
Or maybe one of those all-natural organic slushies? Handcrafted grilled cheese?! We can’t decide!!!!!
