Community Corner

Prospect Heights Parents and Tots Head to Wall Street for 'Family Sleepover'

Parents plan Zuccotti Park campout to show support for Occupy Wall Street Movement.

When a friend invited Cynthia Yahia to a “Family Sleepover” at Zuccotti Park Friday, she knew she wanted to go.

“I just have this feeling that having families there lends weight and legitimacy to the issue and I want to help convey that,” she said.

The attorney and mother of two had been following the Occupy Wall Street movement, and her husband had gone down a couple of times, but when she heads down there tomorrow with her husband, 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, it will be her first chance to show support directly.

Find out what's happening in Prospect Heights-Crown Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Organized by Parents for Occupy Wall Street, the sleepover is jammed packed with events. There’s a sing-along with Dan Zanes, a pizza party, "family quiet time," a “parents coffee date” and arts and crafts organized by Isabel Cruz, .

Yahia has been preparing her kids for the event by and reading them books such as Henry’s Freedom Box.

Find out what's happening in Prospect Heights-Crown Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She's also tried to explain the ideas behind it to her 5-year-old son.

“I said, ‘There are people who work very hard but they can’t get anywhere. If they get sick they can’t pay for a doctor. … The idea of not being able to see a doctor hit home with him,” she said.

So far at least 52 families have signed up, including at least three from Prospect Heights, she said.

Asked if she had any trepidation about spending the night in the park with her two young children, Yahia said not really, pointing out that there will be a completely separate area for the sleepover where families will have to check in and check out as well as an hourly head count.

“I think it’s going to be peaceful,” she said, adding, “We can always just walk out and get on the subway—it’s still Manhattan.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Prospect Heights-Crown Heights