Wall Street protesters occupy foreclosed home in NY

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Wall Street protesters occupy foreclosed home in NY

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The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken over a home in New York City.

07 December,2011 11:35 am

About 500 protesters marched through the low income neighborhood of East New York located in Brooklyn.The protesters called attention to the numerous abandoned homes and foreclosed homes in the area.The demonstrators marched to four houses and posted yellow tape that read occupy on the homes.This particular neighborhood is really, as one of the speakers said, ground zero of the foreclosure crisis perhaps in New York City. The foreclosure and underwater rates in this particularly community is three times higher than any region of Brooklyn and five times higher than New York state. And so really we are bringing the occupy movement to ground zero, said Senia Barragan, one of the protest organizers.The New York City protest was part of a nationwide day of action to call attention to the high level of bank foreclosures. The protesters also called for more affordable housing. The rally was organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement which said they were taking back their streets, their homes, and their neighborhoods.George Herivaux, who lives in East New York, welcomed the movement.I think its great. I love it. I think its great... People are losing their homes, the cops are out here dogging us, we need it out here... I mean, we have no jobs out here and we need help, he said.At the fifth and final stop on the protest route, demonstrators organized what they called a housewarming party for the new residents of a neighborhood home.Organizers said they are working with community leaders and legal aid groups to engage in a long term eviction defense campaign aimed at providing the bank-owned house to the family that had been homeless.Alfredo Carrasquillo, his partner, and two children moved into the home that had been vacant.We took matters into our own hands and claimed back property that was taken away from the community, Carrasquillo told journalists.Occupy Wall Street members cleaned up the home and brought the family housewarming gifts such as plants and furniture.