Occupiers Eye Clock Factory

A subset of the Occupy New Haven movement may soon have a place to call home outside of the Green: An abandoned clock factory just outside of downtown.

“We won!” organizer Ben Aubin said during one of the group’s twice-weekly General Assemblies on the upper Green Sunday afternoon, to warm applause from 85 attendees. He was talking about negotiations with Bill Krauss, one of the partners owning the Clock Factory site (formerly the New Haven Clock Company), to allow a community garden and Aubin’s Free Store to operate out of the factory rent-free. The Free Store, previously located on Church Street, distributes donated merchandise to anyone who walks through the door, yet is designed to be financially self-sustaining. (Read about that here.)

Negotiations over the Clock Factory deal are still in progress.

Demonstrators aligned with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York started setting up tents and ​“occupying” the upper Green last week. Read about that here. The protests — generally aimed at calling attention to corporate misdeeds and control by the wealthy over government policy — have spread to over 100 cities.

Aubin, who’s been looking for a new place for the Free Store to operate out of for months, had the abandoned factory on Hamilton Street in the back of his mind for weeks.

“It’s in an area that needs revitalization, and so we’re hoping to bring a positive community force out to that part of the city,” he said.

Reached by phone Sunday, Krauss declined to confirm that a deal was made. A walk-through of the factory (pictured) by New Haven’s occupiers is scheduled to take place this week. If the deal goes through, a community garden and Free Store will take up about 3,000 square feet of the red brick building.

Aubin’s announcement was one of many that dealt with the long-term sustainability of the Occupy New Haven movement, which organizers have been grappling with as the Green’s ​“full-time” and ​“part-time” occupiers try to integrate their roles and come up with a unified message.

Another announcement: The movement has received more than $350 in cash donations since the occupation formally started Oct. 15. The group voted to start a Finance Committee to figure out what to do with it.

Andrew Jeon (pictured), an entrepreneur and member of the occupation’s Media Committee, asked that $150 of that go toward establishing an internet hotspot that ​“can fit in your pocket” and allow anyone on the Green, or wherever the hotspot is, to access a wireless internet connection.

“That $150 could make our entire movement much more efficient,” he told the group, since it could help people living on the Green communicate with the public via livestream video and constant social media updates.

It turned out there was no need for the $350 ​“General Fund” to be tapped at all, since he was able to collect over $300 for the project just from people at the assembly, within an hour of making his announcement.

David Elkin-Ginnetti, a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School and the Education Center for the Arts, announced a series of ​“teach-ins” where speakers could educate occupiers, and anyone else who cares to join, about various issues. Immediately after the meeting, he and others set up a tent that would house a library where students could do work and read donated books.

Among other plans: A Halloween party on the Green next Saturday featuring pumpkin carving, face-painting, ​“tent-or-treating” and live bands; the first ​“Rockupy” concert at Cafe Nine on Nov. 9; and creating stickers for local businesses to don should they wish to be ​“Occupy-friendly” and be a point for receiving and distributing donations to the movement.

Previous coverage of Occupy New Haven and Occupy Wall Street:

• In New Haven, ​“Occupiers” Embrace The Cops
• Midnight Drug Warning Sparks Soul-Searching
• Emergency Session Poses Democracy Test
• The Password (The Password) … Is (Is) …
• 1,000 Launch New Haven’s ​“Occupation”
• Klein: Occupation Needs To Confront Power
• Whoops! Movement Loses $100K
• New Haven’s ​“Occupation” Takes Shape
• Occupy Branford: Wall Street Edition
• Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$
• Labor, Occupiers March To Same Beat
• Protests’ Demand: A ​“World We Want To See”
• Protesters To Occupy Green Starting Oct. 15
• Wall Street Occupiers Page Verizon
• New Haven Exports ​“Free”-dom To Occupiers