Juxtaposition of the (New) Year: Times Square / Zuccotti Park

Call it a tale of two cities.

I love Bloomberg’s sweater (but, wasn’t Rudy “America’s Mayor”???), the way he borrows the love from the pop icon, and even the distant riff on the Times Square Kiss (like the war’s over!) while the NYPD is muscling the (re-)Occupiers downtown. Not to mention, another tough night for Occupy women. (Yeah, I thought it was blood at first, too.) Then, I liked the 1% vibe of this Times Square shot of the Police Commish, also.

More Zuccotti pics and backstory. Ellen Barkin versus the NYPD. Pulling out the pepper spray.

(photo 1: Jason Kempin / Getty Images caption: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Lady Gaga celebrate the new year in Times Square.photo 2: Stephanie Keith/AP. caption: An Occupy Wall Street protester is arrested by police early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, in New York. Protesters clashed with police as they marched through lower Manhattan. Dozens of protesters were arrested as they tore down the barricades surrounding New York City’s Zuccotti Park just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.