When The Times talked to NYPD community relations detective Rick Lee (aka "Hipster Cop") in October, the stylish officer-- spotted at numerous Occupy events-- was four months away from being eligible to retire. "Maybe I’ll grow my hair long again and join these guys," he said, looking across at protesters in Zuccotti Park.
It's more than four months later, however, and Lee definitely hasn't retired.
A video uploaded to YouTube shows Lee being less "hipster," and decidedly more "cop" Tuesday in dealing with a May Day performance by protest band JD Samson & MEN.
Lee rolls up to the performance-- at Broadway and Stone Street downtown--and yells at the band to turn the volume to half it's level, threatening to revoke their sound permit. At one point, the baby-faced 45-year-old--who loves Radiohead and the Killers, and eats only organic food-- even tells a man, "Shutup! I'm not talking to you."
As Lee walks away, someone can be heard screaming, "Hipster cop hates music!"
Gothamist caught up with Lee at Zuccotti Park at midnight Wednesday. It had been a long day for the 20-year NYPD veteran. "I've been on the job since 7 a.m.," he said. "And I'm not going home any time soon." He also explained that he didn't want the loud noise level from the protests to disturb downtown residents. "Look around," he said, "This is almost all residential now. Didn't use to be that way."
For the uninitiated, take a look below at the meme that was "hipster cop," when Occupy was dominating headlines last Fall.
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