This week in the magazine, I write about the origins of Occupy Wall Street, including an explanation of how New York’s general assembly decided on Zuccotti Park as the site of original encampment. After discussing possible sites at the G.A.’s weekly Tompkins Square Park meetings, the decision was ultimately left to a small group known as the Tactical Committee, who narrowed the choice down to eight candidates. During the week leading up to the protest, the Tactical Committee scouted the remaining sites. On the afternoon of September 17th, three of the committee’s members decided on Zuccotti Park, which they then called Location Two. (I was able to interview one member of the Tactical Committee, who asked that I call him “P.,” one of his initials, due to concern that he might be fired from his job if I used his full name.)

“We decided that low-tech communication methods would be best,” P. told me. “If we’d used a mass text message, or Twitter, it would have been easy for the police to track down who was doing this.”… Soon, maps were distributed and people began to murmur, “Go to Location Two in thirty minutes. The first arrivals took seats beneath the trees on the eastern side, arranged themselves in small groups, and ate peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. By that afternoon, nearly a thousand people had gathered for a general-assembly meeting.

Here is a copy of the map that the Tactical Committee distributed at Bowling Green, followed by P.’s notes on the locations’ advantages and disadvantages.

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(Click to expand.)

P. writes: General criteria: A high-visibility space near Wall Street and Broadway, that can hold two thousand people, and is preferably a Privately Owned Public Space (P.O.P.S.), which are not subject to city park curfews and many of which are required by law to be open twenty-four hours a day. I’ve noted the locations that were seen as auxiliaries, meaning that they were possible sites for hosting smaller general assemblies in the event that the first general assembly was dispersed, and/or to spread out the police presence in the event that the map reached authorities.

Location 1 (One Chase Manhattan Plaza): Pro: Large, high-visibility P.O.P.S.; near Wall Street. Con: The G.A.’s original first choice, but was closed to passersby by the 17th.

Location 2 (Zuccotti Park): Pro: Large P.O.P.S. two blocks from Wall Street; many exits; almost empty on September 17th with few police nearby; required to be open twenty-four hours a day. Con: Trees could interfere with sightlines during large meetings.

Location 3 (Bowling Green “Charging Bull” statue): Pro: High symbolic value; Charging Bull resonates with Adbusters poster. Con: Small; fenced in by steel barricades; park curfew.

Location 4 (Battery Park): Pro: Auxiliary location. Con: Easy to surround, as one side faces river; park curfew.

Location 5 (One New York Plaza): Pro: Auxiliary location. Con: Too small; far from Wall Street.

Location 6 (Vietnam Veterans Memorial): Pro: Close to Morgan Stanley and Standard & Poor’s. Con: Too small; far from Wall Street; park curfew.

Location 7 (Hanover Square): Pro: Auxiliary location. Con: Too small; too much vegetation; low visibility; park curfew.

Location 8 (Manhattan Park): Pro: Auxiliary location. Con: Too narrow; too close to river; park curfew.