Officials: Military Park Curfew Not Lifted for Occupy Newark

Occupy Newark protesters hoped to extend their ongoing demonstration in Military Park past 9 p.m. by Friday, but city officials said Wednesday that's not possible.

The group lobbied earlier this week to Newark City Council members for a change in the park's curfew. As a result, during Tuesday's routine council meeting, Councilwoman Mildred Crump proposed that the council submit a letter to Mayor Cory Booker that requests a curfew ban, according to Anne Torres, a city spokeswoman. Councilman Ronald C. Rice seconded the request.

But Torres said Wednesday evening that the letter, which had not been received by the administration, does not mean the curfew is suspended.

She said the council has the power to extend the hours of operation at Military Park through a resolution, but said they issued no resolution during the meeting.

"(The process) takes at least a week," said Torres.

Earlier Wednesday, the Occupy Newark group wrote on Twitter, "9PM curfew has been suspended indefinitely by councilmen. We will begin overnight occupation of Newark this Friday."

Messages sent to the group via Twitter and an email were not returned.

Crump has supported the movement in Newark and showed up at the rally last Sunday. A three-minute YouTube video shows Crump telling the protesters that she spoke with Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio and Booker's Chief of Staff Modia Butler about the curfew. "I did ask the police director and the mayor's chief of staff, rather, to cut you some slack," she says to an applause. Crump calls herself a "99 percenter" in the video.

Booker has shown some support for Occupy Newark, including stopping by the rally last Saturday. The mayor, though, has expressed concerns about lifting the curfew, saying it would strain police resources.

"Ultimately, what they could end up doing at 2 o'clock in the morning or 3 o'clock in the morning ... they could be drawing urgently needed police resources from the neighborhoods," he said last week, before the group marched on Military Park.

Occupy Newark, an off-shoot of the months-long Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, and attracted roughly 30 people.