Occupy Wall Street takes to the subway

The Occupy Wall Street supporter tried to fire up some subway riders.

"The people are finally rising up against the corporate state!" artist Noah Fischer, 34, of Brooklyn, declared to a carful of riders on the No. 4 IRT train from Brooklyn Borough Hall to Manhattan.

He urged riders to speak up, but most had the vacant look they save for panhandlers and musicians who stroll the cars. In fact, not one person spoke up.

Fischer was among the hundreds of protesters who rode the subway to Thursday night's protest in Foley Square, and the plan was to bond with riders by talking about economic injustice.

A small band of protesters riding the E train from the Jamaica/Archer terminal in Queens didn't make an effort to proselytize. About 30 met at the terminal, 12 got on the train and only six got off at Foley Square.

The Queens contingent mostly talked among themselves as they rode. The Brooklyn contingent tried, but that effort fell on deaf ears.

"It's not as big a deal as what's been going on on Wall Street," Joseph O'Donnell, 36, Babylon, standing in the crowded No. 4 train subway car.

Before boarding the No. 4 train, the protesters seemed unsure of how to proceed. One man asked a reporter what was going to happen. Peter Myers, 69, of Brooklyn, handed out fliers. One read: "The 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million."

He said the idea of being in the subways was a creative way to spread the demonstrators' message. One woman held a sign that said: "Because they're trying to drive our planet off a cliff."