De-Occupy Philly Deadline Comes, Goes

Turns out when Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter set a deadline for evicting squatters from Dilworth Plaza he didn't actually mean it.

According to Philly.com:

Police had no plans to evict anyone, Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said about 6:30 p.m. (last night.)

"We look forward to working with Occupy Philadelphia and a resolution of the problem. Confrontation is never good. Anyone who is being fair would have to say that there is a big difference between the police reaction to Occupy Philadelphia than in other cities," he said.

"I definitely, definitely want to really stress that the vast majority of people participating in this movement have been cooperative, nonviolent, and very respectful," he said.

It's certainly been good for police officers interested in collecting overtime.

As for the mayor, it will be hard to know the next time he declares something whether he means it. In the meantime, the $50 million renovation project of the site remains on hold until... well, apparently until it gets a little colder out and the squatters decide to leave on their own.

UPDATE: I met this guy, Michael Pierce (pictured in the Inky) Saturday. He was manning the information booth. Nice guy. Very friendly. He said he was from Mt. Holly, N.J. He didn't mention he was a Philosophy professor. But he did say he was the Pastor of the East Baptist Church in Fishtown.

He told me he wasn't sure what was going to happen Sunday but said he was interested in a solution that would allow the renovation of the plaza to get started while still "maintaining an effective occupation." He said the occupation has been a success in creating an "Internet Revolution" and "driving people to that conversation." To get people to "change their habits" to "grow your own food" and create more "sustainable lifestyles... not based on buying crap all the time."

Maybe Mayor Nutter can offer the occupiers some unused land in the city to farm so that they can grow their own food. But something about their lifestyles doesn't strike me as very sustainable without the help of people who buy crap all the time.

UPDATE: According to the Philly.com Pierce is a professor of Philosophy at Burlington County College. However, a perusal of BCC's online staff directory showed no Michael Pierce listed.

From the website of the BCC Philosophy Department:

The philosophy department has two full-time faculty and several adjunct instructors. The full-time professors are Francis (Rusty) Conroy and Anne Miller.

Dr. Conroy holds a BA in philosophy from Haverford College, an MA in philosophy from Yale University, and a PhD in philosophy and sociology (with an emphasis on East Asia) from the Union Institute. He has been a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University and at the East-West Center (Honolulu). He also teaches in the sociology department. Dr. Conroy’s special interests are Eastern philosophy and religion, existentialism, Marxism, philosophy in literature, and ecological thought.

Prof. Miller holds a BA in philosophy from Rosemont College and an MA in philosophy from Boston University. Her special interests are ethics, philosophy of the person, history of Western philosophy, philosophy of religion, and literature. She has also taught English and literature.

UDATE II: Philly.com has demoted Pierce from professor to "instructor" here.