Will You 'OccupyPittsburgh' on Saturday as Part of the National Movement?

OccupyPittsburgh -- in solidarity with the global Occupy movement that is drawing attention to corporate, economic and social issues-- will hold rallies and a march on Saturday.

"Marchers will meet at Freedom Corner on Centre Avenue in the Hill District beginning at 10 a.m. After a short rally at 11 a.m., the group will march toward Downtown, following Grant Street, Liberty Avenue and Wood Street, ending at Market Square, where a larger rally will begin at 1:30 p.m. and end at 3 p.m, according to OccupyPittsburgh's website.

"Occupation of Pittsburgh begins 4 p.m. [at] Mellon Green, Grant Street and Sixth Avenue," according to the OccupyPittsburgh website.

"City police this afternoon approved a permit for OccupyPittsburgh to host a march and several rallies Saturday," according to a Thursday afternoon posting on the OccupyPittsburgh website.

"The local offshoot of a global movement protesting corporate, economic and social issues plans to target corporate headquarters Downtown," the posting states.

"Saturday will see Pittsburgh join the hundreds of cities across the country and hundreds more overseas where the Occupy movement has taken hold," the website states.

"Known in New York City as OccupyWallStreet, there are now more than 1,000 cities in the U.S. and overseas where some sort of occupation-style movement has begun," the website continues. "OccupyPittsburgh has been developed by residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania in harmony and solidarity with the 99% Occupy movement.

"Banding together under this theme are people from all age groups and most levels of society who have one thing in common: The desire for a future free of the corporate greed, corruption and undue political influence which has destroyed the economy and made the poor and the middle class poorer while the super-rich continue to thrive."

Participants will occupy Mellon Green, next to BNY Mellon headquarters on Grant Street, a property belonging to a subsidiary of BNY Mellon, organizers said on the website.

"Asked if it was legal to demonstrate and set up an occupation encampment there, participants referred to the Urban Open Space section of the Golden Triangle ordinance of city code which mandates privately owned plazas and parks be 'open without restriction to the general public.'

"OccupyPittsburgh members contend this includes First Amendment rights, protecting freedom of speech," the website states. "They further contend that the ordinance banning overnight camping in city parks does not apply, because Mellon Green is not city property.