Elmont Online

A crowd of roughly 400 to 500 people are in downtown Albany as part of an Occupy Albany protest that will target Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Business Council.

Labor unions and community groups from around the state boarded buses for the afternoon protest downtown. Protesters have come from Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Newburgh.

A rally was being held across from the Capitol in Lafayette Park and the group expected to follow that with a march to the Business Council on Washington Avenue. Like Cuomo, the Business Council is opposed to the continuation of the so-called "millionaire's tax." The continuation of the tax is a key cause for the Occupy Wall Street movement that inspired the Albany effort.

A number of public labor unions, including the Public Employees Federation and New York State United Teachers, sent members to the rally.

PEF President Kenneth Brynien was among the speakers at the rally.

The large influx of out-of-town visitors on Thursday marks the two-month anniversary of the initial Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan.

While that miniature village was shut down early Tuesday morning by New York City law enforcement at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Albany's protests have thus far benefited from the sufferance of Mayor Jerry Jennings, who has refused to clear out the protesters upon the establishment of their camp in city-owned Academy Park almost three weeks ago, and Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who has refused to prosecute Occupy protesters, who since Saturday have been crossing over into state-owned Lafayette Park, leading to scores of arrests by State Police.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said the state will enforce an 11 p.m. curfew in Lafayette Park. On Wednesday, he refused to comment on calls to name a special prosecutor to handle the Occupy Albany charges, but said he would continue to "monitor the situation."

The two parks are located diagonally from the state Capitol.

The itinerary for the day included a general assembly meeting at noon followed by the march to the Business Council before heading to the Capitol building, where stops are planned in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's offices and outside the state Senate chamber.

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