By Ben Fractenberg and Sarah Tan
DNAinfo Reporters
DOWNTOWN — Occupy Wall Street protesters at Zuccotti Park set up a safe house for women Friday after a man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in the plaza on Oct. 25 and being questioned for another assault on Oct. 29.
The large Army tent was assembled on the south side of the park, which is near the World Trade Center site, facing the sidewalk.
On Saturday, protesters were busy setting up seven similar large tents as co-ed accommodations and living space for LGBT protesters.
"We're moving towards more communal spaces to encourage community roles," said protester Max Bean, 29, of New York, who has been at Zuccotti Park for three weeks.
"For a philosophical reason it makes sense, too. It's a public park we shouldn't privatize it."
The women's safe haven tent will be for sleeping, meeting and storing supplies during the day, according to protesters. There will be 24-hour security, though protesters would not go into detail about what that would entail.
"It was great, warm, quiet place. Someone sat outside all night," said student Liz Labron, 33, of Louisiana, who spent the night in the tent.
"[It was] really helpful especially for people like me who are travelling through. I don't have to stay in a random tent with guys."
Protesters said that only about 10 people slept in the space Friday night, far below the tent's capacity of 16.
"I can see how some people wouldn't feel safe, especially if they were a couple of girls staying alone together in a tent," said Brooklyn resident April Barabash, 24, who has been staying on-and-off in the park for three-and-a-half weeks.
Barabash said she has never felt unsafe because she shares a tent with friends she trusts.
Another woman who has been spending time in the park over the past two weeks said the sheer amount of people passing through the area makes it difficult to police the plaza.
"It's a public space. Anytime you have that, it's a random group of people," said Lindsey Waggler, 32, who is in the city from Vermont for a teaching program. "Its up to everyone to behave themselves and be self-aware."
The move comes just days after Tonye Iketubosin, 26, of Brooklyn, who worked as part of the protest's kitchen staff, was nabbed for allegedly sexually abusing an 18-year-old woman inside her tent on Oct. 25.
He was being investigated for a similar incident on Oct. 29, in which an 18-year-old woman said that she was sexually assaulted inside her tent as she slept. But he had not been charged in that case.
Since the encampment was first set up on Sept. 17, there have been numerous reports of sexual misconduct in the park and arrests for a handful of crimes.
And on Thursday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted the protesters for not reporting crimes at Zuccotti.
“If this is in fact happening, and it’s very hard to get good information, it is despicable and I think it is outrageous and it really allows the criminal to strike again, making all of us less safe,” he said.
The construction of the safe house also comes after protesters installed a series of portable toilets nearby in part to address community complaints about demonstrators urinating and defecating in public.
