Occupy New Haven offers to reseed Green

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Occupy New Haven protestors say they want to come back to the Green, but this time around it's because they want to help fix the damage that they caused.

City Hall says it will take $25,000 to repair the part of the Green beaten down by the long protest.
    
A judge's order forced the Occupiers out last week.
    
Now some of those protestors say they are willing to come back and repair the damage free of charge.

"We are presenting the city with a proposal for us to repair the Green free of charge. They say it's gonna cost $25,000 to reseed the lawn. We disagree, we think that's highly inflated and that we would like to help the city by doing it for free," said Ray Neal from Occupy. "We have the Yale Forestry School to help us and we have the equipment and expertise ready to go."

Elizabeth Benton, the Director of Communications for the City of New Haven released the following statement in response to the offer:

"We appreciate Occupy New Haven's recognition of the substantial damage they caused to the New Haven Green.  Nevertheless, professional expertise is necessary in order to restore the Green for all to enjoy. If members of Occupy New Haven would like to contribute towards the restoration costs, that would be welcome."