Zuccotti Park becomes tourist attraction

Zuccotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street protesters have camped out for more than a month, is becoming a tourist stop, along with the World Trade Center construction site and Times Square.

It's now common to see tourists at the park taking photographs of themselves with protesters in the background. On a typical day, they clog the pedestrian traffic in the area, which is often bustling with financial district employees pushing their way through.

Jackie Qualizza of Bucyrus, Kansas, challenged protester Art Udeykin Wednesday, asking him to explain the purpose of the demonstration, which has inspired similar activism in many cities across the nation and around the world.

"Right now, we don't have a goal -- except to back away from the system that's not working," replied Udeykin, 23, a Russia-born Iowan.

Qualizza said she didn't disagree with the protesters. She couldn't see herself demonstrating, but added, "I don't disagree with them. The government bailed out everyone, and things are still not working. Something has to change."

Their brief interaction came a day after an NYPD lieutenant was sanctioned for using pepper spray on protesters and the group confronted Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over his push to eliminate a tax on the rich.

The protest against corporate influence in government and wealth inequality has many of the things tourists look for, including photo-worthy moments and even trinkets, such as shirts and buttons.

The double-decker buses offering tours of Manhattan pass by on Broadway, with guides pointing out the park and tourists often waving at protesters from the top decks.

Visitors do get a show at times. Wednesday, Shawn Lahey, a ruler factory worker from upstate Poughkeepsie, watched a dancing man holding a pole marked "corporation" attached to a noose marked "financial system" -- from which another dancing man was "hanging." Masked drummers provided a soundtrack.

"I think it's great -- they're trying to make a point," Lahey said, though he added with a wry smile, "I don't think it'll make any difference . . . The government won't make any changes, because it's all about money."

Molly Schwad, a jeweler from Kansas traveling with Qualizza and others, said she was surprised by what she saw Wednesday compared to the TV coverage: a quiet encampment in the rain of only about 200 people. At times several hundred people have camped at the park, and some demonstrations have drawn thousands.

"I thought it was much bigger," Schwad said. "We were afraid there might be violence here."