Crane work spurs temporary evacuation of a section of Occupy Philadelphia

Some members of Occupy Philadelphia were temporarily moved from their encampment this morning.  It’s not  the big move the group and city have been arguing about.

A handful of people on the Northwest corner of City Hall were told they had to move from their tents.  Philadelphia Police Captain Bill Fisher says it was necessary to use a crane to remove scaffolding from the top of City Hall.

“The crane is already in a stationary position, the fact is when it gets up in the air with the wind and everything else there’s a possibility that it could fall down into this area here and it’s a safety factor,” said Fisher.

The rented scaffolding was put up to repair damage from the summer earthquake.

Anya Fox of Occupy helped with the move.

“I will do what I can to keep the people safe in this community and if that means asking them nicely to leave their tents until 3:30 just while this construction is going down and it boils down to just being a safety issue that’s what I will do,” said Fox.

Occupy and the City of Philadelphia don’t have an agreement to get the protesters to leave all of Dilworth Plaza so a 50 million dollar renovation can begin.