The New York Times report on the New Year gathering at Zuccotti Park
put the size of the crowd to be 500 at 11:30, a half hour before
Midnight. The actual number had to be 4, 5, or 6 times that. Indeed,
since there are no tents (or work stations) in the park anymore, there may
have been 2 or even 3 thousand. There were more people there than I
have ever seen in the park proper.  Only on the western most side by
Church street was the crowd thin. In other areas, as you can clearly see
from these videos, it was shoulder to shoulder.   

The Times belittles the significance of the event by underestimating the
crowd.  The whole tone of the article conjures an atmosphere of a small
number of disgruntled people who ‘clash” with police.  When the reality
was a much larger crowd that grew steadily as the evening progressed
since smaller groups continued to arrive -or return - from other actions
through out the city.

But the best part of the night was the authentic camaraderie, and good
cheer with which people greeted one another (who hadn’t seen each other
in a while), and the real fun that ensued (with very little drinking)  The
midnight Mic Check was: “Whose year, Our year.”  Doubtful anyone in
Iowa is that confident.