Friday, November 18, 2011

Frances Goldin could kick a cop in the balls and not get arrested, probably

[Andrew Burton/Getty Images]

Frances Goldin, founder of the Cooper Square Committee and catalyst for getting the rent reduced at the St. Mark's Bookshop, was among the many Occupy Wall Street protestors yesterday. The 87-year-old literary agent is a longtime activist who has been arrested nine times. She is quoted in a feature at MSNBC today:

"And I was sure I'd be arrested today, but the cops were determined because of the bad publicity for them, to not arrest an 87-year-old woman."

"I said [to an officer], 'What if I socked you in the eye?,' and he said, 'I'd give you a free shot,'" Goldin said. "'Well, what if I kneed you in the groin?,' and he said, 'No, you're not going to get arrested!'"

And here she is on NBC New York...

7 comments:

Jeremiah Moss said...

"when i am an old woman, i shall wear purple."

hooray for Frances and others like her. hope i'm still at least trying to kick some ass at her age.

Barney Russell said...

She would probably break her hip if she tried to knee someone.
The cops probably didn't to call Access-A-Ride to take her to Central Booking.

Pluto said...

Check out Bob Arihood's protege Hugh's blog for some great shots too.

His blog is More than Usual... Frances and Hugh Burckhardt
are evidence that Bob's spirit hovers over the city.

Marty Wombacher said...

What a cool woman and a great spirit!

OWR said...

Professional agitator. She'd make a great wife for Penley

evflip said...

"In 1959, Robert Moses proposed a massive urban renewal plan for the Lower East Side that would have displaced 2,400 tenants, 450 single-room occupants, 4000 homeless beds, and over 500 businesses. He intended to create 2,900 units of middle-income housing, which would have been out of financial reach of 93 percent of residents.

The Cooper Square Committee formed in response to this plan, and organized to create their own vision for the neighborhood’s future. “It was very easy to organize the group because people were directly affected,” said Goldin, who added that they coordinated over 100 community meetings in a year. The resulting Cooper Square Alternate Plan included public housing, Mitchell-Lama co-ops, other cooperative housing, resettlement and rehabilitation facilities, and artist housing"
source: mas.org/frances-goldin

The seed she planted in 1961 is still bearing fruit 50 years later. Agitator? Thank God for agitators like Frances Goldin!

glamma said...

Francis Goldin I adore you. What an inspiration you are! Way to go! EV REPRESENT