Among the Lawrence anarchists arrested Tuesday in New York City was Dave Strano, who was caught in a literal dragnet that descended on a crowd near Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street.

“A whole bunch of us got rounded up along with other people… They’re rounding up as many people as they can in this orange netting kind of stuff,” Strano said by phone early Thursday after getting out of jail. “They more or less encircle everyone they can with it. We were in jail with two kids that had been shopping at Macy’s.”

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He estimated that anywhere between one out of 10 and one out of 15 people arrested in the group had nothing to do with protests.

Those arrested were taken to a holding cell on a pier, where Strano said the floor was covered with a thick, black substance that stained clothing and shoes and caused some people’s skin to break out.

Detainees had to get permission from an officer to use the restroom, but it was hard to get their attention, he said, and at times they ran out of water.

At first they were held in a makeshift cell with about 50 people, then moved to one with about 500. They were back out on the street about 24 hours after being arrested — which, despite its discomforts, he noted, was nothing compared with people being held indefinitely without charges at Guantanamo Bay.

Strano said he couldn’t talk about specifics of his case, such as what he was doing or how he was arrested. He said by far, most people are being charged with disorderly conduct.

One member of the Lawrence group has a gash on his forehead from being tackled by an officer, Strano said, but others haven’t been injured.

“Being in this city right now, you can feel the fear people have of this police force,” he said.