Who are the men and women seeking to occupy Union Square Park? So far we’ve met Karin Hofmann and Justin Stone-Diaz; Fathema Shadida and Tim “Chyno” Chin; John Eustor and Carlton Hall; and Ed Mortimer and James Pistocco. Today, in the final installment of The Local’s series, meet two more of your new neighbors.
Jared MalsinName: Sam Wood
Age: 22
Originally from: Farmingdale, New York
Current residence: Full-time occupier. “I’ve spent a decent amount of nights here in Union Square.”
Job before joining occupy: Unemployed
Current job: Full-time occupier, unemployed
Looking for work? “I’ve put in applications here and there, and haven’t really gotten anything out of it.”
Ideology: “I definitely agree with a lot of communist political views. I would definitely say I’m an anarchist, because ‘No bosses,’ that sounds pretty cool.”
Claim to fame within the movement: “I’m a medic who doesn’t sleep and works his ass off.”
Why occupy? “It started out because I sort of didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I thought that it was a fantastic idea, and the community that it created was just wonderful. I haven’t felt that sense of community at any other time in my whole life. Also, because I’m one of the medics that work here a lot.”
Favorite music: “Right now I’m listening to mostly alternative rock and blues.”
Favorite book: Recently read “Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic,” by Tom Holland.
Number of Occupy-related arrests: One, during the Brooklyn Bridge incident last October
Opinion of Mayor Bloomberg: “I disagree with him a lot and think that he’s somewhat immoral, you know. I don’t really like him too much.”
Opinion of President Obama and the Democrats: “I don’t really like the two-party system that we’ve got. Either side I’m not particularly fans of, although the Democratic groups tend to be more aligned with my interests than not.
Favorite revolutionary leader: Emma Goldman
Favorite cop: “Officer Gaszy! He’s got like the legit cop ‘stash, and he’s still got the service revolver that they took out of service in ’94, and like, he just looks like a badass. I’m sure that the only reason he’s still on the force is ‘cause he gets results, you know what I mean? Oh, Gaszy!”
Jared Malsin Name: Rich Carollan
Age: 23
Originally from: Suffolk County, Long Island
Current residence: Full-time occupier
Current job: “Full-time occupant and activist”
Looking for work? No. “If I were to go get a job I would be putting into a system that I don’t approve of. Morally, ethically, I do not approve of money. It murders people.”
Ideology: “I love all alternative forms of government.”
Claim to fame within the movement: “I make people feel sexually uncomfortable. Do you want to make out?”
Why occupy? “I’m occupying for truth, and I’m occupying to spread the consciousness.”
Favorite music: Punk and Motown
Favorite book: “Ender’s Game,” by Orson Scott Card
Other causes: Food Not Bombs, Take Back the Land
Number of Occupy-related arrests: Two
Opinion of Mayor Bloomberg: “Bloomberg is corrupted. He thinks this army of his, the police, is his army, literally.”
Opinion of President Obama and the Democrats: “What about the puppets? They don’t run the country. They’re not making those laws; it’s the corporations, the Fortune 500.”
Favorite revolutionary leader: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Favorite cop: None.
