Where Is A Good Abusement Park Near New York City

Did JP Morgan Chase's $4.6 Million donation to the New York City Police Foundation coincide with the Occupy Wall Street protests?  Does it create a conflict of interest for the NYPD?

Being an employee of JPMorgan at the time of Occupy Wall Street, I don't think that anyone at JPM really cared at all about OWS.The thing about banking is that almost none of it happens on Wall Street.  The main offices at JPM are at Park Avenue near Grand Central, so no one at JPM (or any other major bank) was affected at all by the protests.  In any case, since 9/11, all of the banks have had contingency plans so that if someone tried to shut down Midtown, everyone could work from home.  All of the computer systems are distributed at various locations around NYC, to make it impossible for any one group or person to shut down the system with anything short of a nuclear bomb.There *were* a lot of demonstrations near the JPM headquarters, but not for reasons that you would think.  It turns out that JPM is located right outside the no-protest zone for the United Nations, so every time the UN was in session, there were tons of protesters outside of the office.  There was something of a strong police presence, but the police were just on horseback watching the protesters, and I suspect that one of the reason the police were there were to prevent the protestors from fighting each other, since there were some conflicting groups among the protesters.We did get the occasional protest against JPM (I remember a lot of protesters in yellow shirts), but I don't think that there was ever a police confrontation.  The protestors that I saw where merely exercising their right to free speech, and they were careful to stay on the public sidewalk and not to try to block anyone from entering the building.  Often when we got e-mail saying that there would be a demonstration that day and to remember to bring our badges.  I do vaguely remember some police there, but they were just watching.One reason that I do appreciate the NYPD (and I suspect this was the reason why they got a donation) is that the main reason that the police were there was to prevent demonstrators from blocking the office entrances.  When there was a demonstration, the police set up lines so that demonstrators could not keep us from going to work.  The other thing is that there were times when you had extremely angry protestors, and it felt good to have the police there since it would insure that the demonstrators wouldn't physically beat us up.

Are New York police officers abusing citizens protesting for Occupy Wall Street?

I think the video in the question pretty much answers it, in a narrow sense. Yes, at least some police officers have abused protesters in an inexcusable way.But perhaps the question is really asking whether that is happening systematically, or at least with some regularity. The protesters very clearly think so. But I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that. Certainly the NYPD presence around the protest is completely non-threatening most of the time. That is, if you go down to where they are based, you'll see peaceful protesters surrounded by bored-looking cops.The problems generally come up when folks are on the march, and everyone on both sides is riled up. There has clearly been a good deal of violence, but the videos are usually too jumbled to tell who is instigating it.It's hard to imagine that there haven't been any other cases of abuse, but that video is the only really solid evidence I've seen.It's ugly, and the officer in question should be in serious trouble, but until new evidence comes to light, there's no reason to think it's typical.

What can you do if you want to park the car yourself at a valet provided location?

If there is space upfront, have a twenty ready and visible. Tell the valet you want to park it yourself in one of these front spaces, and you will be holding on to your keys. Tell the valet how long you need the space for. Ask the valet where he wants you to put your car. Hand over the twenty. Done deal. (A twenty might not be enough in expensive parts of New York City and places like that. But in most places a twenty will make it happen.)At valet locations where there is no space, it might not be possible to make an accommodation for you, even with a big tip. Sometimes the public just isn’t allowed to go where these cars are parked, or it is just considered too risky. Spaces can be very tight. Cars can be stacked (where multiple cars need to be moved to get a car out). In a tight garage, they don’t want to risk you bumping into other cars.Tipping nicely in advance can get your car better treatment. That’s another option.Or you can park in a public garage somewhere, then Uber it to your destination.Or you can rent a car and leave your wheels at home. Dings and minor scrapes won’t matter as much.