From the desk of Kat, VP of Content/Manager of the Mountain’s Pittsburgh Branch:
Being in the midst of the G-20 is certainly an interesting experience: It feels like we’ve been invaded.
Looking at the big picture, this is a really neat opportunity: the city is hosting a major event for the world, and we’re the center of political discussion right now. Very cool.
Looking at the small picture, this isn’t that great at all.
As I write this, my friend Alex just Tweeted:
@aandrewsjr riots in lawrenceville starting to break windows; tear gas; crazy protesters… what will happen as they get closer.
(Say what you will about Twitter, it has been quite useful for G-20 updates.)
Downtown Pittsburgh looks like a zoo, animals going crazy and cages everywhere. Most things have shut down, and those that have stayed open seem to be suffering. Yes, some restaurants and hotels are profiting, but for those of us who live here, life in the city is dead.
It’s the protesters who are occupying us at this point. So far, protesters on the south side of the city were rumored to have been throwing powder at people. Protesters hung from the West End Bridge yesterday in protest of CO2 emissions.
While you won’t find me hanging off a bridge anytime soon, I give them a little credit for choosing a pertinent issue to the ‘burgh. I can assure you, air in the capital of the “Rust Belt” doesn’t compare to the air rushing past you on the Bremerton ferry.
I’ve been avoiding the protesters and downtown, as have many of my compatriots. However, I have been reading up on the action…
“…around 34th Street, a recording in both English and Spanish blared out that it was an unlawful assembly and ordered marchers to disperse. The announcement was accompanied by a high-pitched noise.
Most of the marchers then turned down an alley near the Church Brew Works restaurant and headed toward Penn Avenue. From there, police blocked some of them on Denny Street, where some dumpsters were overturned, while other marchers headed to Mintwood Street. Eventually they got to 37th Street and headed toward Butler Street.
At that intersection, police again confronted them and ordered them to disperse, then fired tear gas, forcing the marchers to retreat.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Awesome, right?
Right now, I’m living just over a mile outside of the city. I’m outside of the fencing, thank heaven. But it’s a bit disconcerting to know that on my morning run, I can’t turn left because of the Secret Service, and I can’t turn right because of 20th Century Fox. Yes, on top of this madness, they’re shooting a major film just over a block away from my apartment.
I heard that the Pirates decided to keep their game against the Cincinnati Reds on the schedule yesterday, but due to the G-20, they only had 3,000 people in attendance (out of a possible 38,500). For the first time in Pittsburgh baseball history, they completely closed the entire upper deck.
(The Pirates could start playing better, too… that might help.)
If there’s any question as to the seriousness of this situation, I think one of my friends captured accurately – “The Chicago police are here?! This —- just got real.”
So yes, that’s the reality of the G-20 here in Pittsburgh. I think Obama should hold a Beer Summit with us… you know, as reparations for this madness. Just a thought.
- Kat
