Community Board Backs 'Occupy' Protesters; Asks Them To Quiet Down

The local community board for the part of Manhattan where the Occupy Wall Street protests are being held voted Tuesday night to bless the occupation "within certain parameters," The Village Voice reports.

Among the things that Community Board 1wants in exchange for its continued support: a two-hour daily limit on drum circles — the "sound of the Occupy Wall Street" protests that, as we wrote Tuesday, has also become a highly contentious issue among both the occupiers and the people who live and work in the neighborhood.

According to the Village Voice:

"Drumming was the big issue of the night again. The question of whether the drummers can drum for two or four hours has turned into an increasingly large albatross, dominating negotiations with the Community Board at a series of meetings over the last few weeks."

It isn't clear at all whether the drummers will go along with the board's request:

"Elijah Moses, a member of the drumming working group Pulse, said that 'there have been some problems with you guys trying to control the drummers.' He held a pair of drumsticks while he spoke.

"He later told the Voice that 'If you keep telling me two hours, I'll keep doing four.' "

Some Occupy protesters, as we said Tuesday, fear that if the drummers keep up the beat too long that may lead to calls for authorities to evict everyone from the park.

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