NRT protestAccording to a Huffington Post article from November 6, a week after No Red Tape and several other student organizations protested in support of Emma Sulkowicz’s Carry that Weight project, No Red Tape was fined $1,500 for the cleanup of that protest. The cleanup involved Columbia Facilities or Public Safety employees disposing of the mattresses that students placed at the doorstep of PrezBo’s mansion.

Because No Red Tape is not officially recognized by Columbia University, Student-Worker Solidarity reserved the space for the protest on NRT’s behalf. According to George Joseph, an SWS officer, SWS will split the responsibility for the fine with the Facilities fund, but NRT will compensate SWS as well. SWS has been in touch with Event Management staff, notably Ryan Scherr, who stated in an email to SWS that “…the charges for the rally were much less than expected—apx. $500. Some of this will hit the facilities fund, the rest would go to SWS, but overall much less than originally thought!”

Another SWS member, Carmen Velasquez, commented on the fine, saying: “The media coverage seems to have magically changed the fee we were supposed to receive. We thank the administration for reconsidering it (sic) previous estimate that the mattress removal would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars.”