A Friday morning showdown may happen between Occupy Wall Street and the NYPD after protesters vowed to defy orders to leave Zuccotti Park so it could be cleaned. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The city says protesters can return to the park after the cleanup – but without the sleeping bags, tarps and coolers that have made their 27-day sit-in possible.
“We see this as a pretext to shut the occupation down,” said protester Amin Husain.
Occupy Wall Street – an amorphous group that has tapped into national populist anger at corporate excess – said it would resist any attempt by the NYPD to shift protesters from the public plaza where they have camped since Sept. 17.
“They will not foreclose our home!” Husain told the crowd. “This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic. We won’t allow them to come in.”
They geared up for a confrontation, sending out an emergency alert calling on supporters to mobilize at 6 a.m. Friday “to defend the occupation from eviction.”
“We’ll position ourselves with our brooms and mops in a human chain around the park, linked at the arms,” protest organizers wrote on their Facebook page.
“If the NYPD attempts to enter, we’ll peacefully/non-violently stand our ground and those who are willing will get arrested.”
The NYPD said that if the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties, complains of people interfering with its lawful attempts to clean the plaza, cops will have to start making arrests.
Gear left behind by protesters will be judged abandoned and thrown away, officials said.
“They now have decided they want to clean the area, and they’re going to do that,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “And we’ll stand by and make sure that the peace is maintained.”
A group of city pols and union leaders held a 6 p.m. Thursday rally calling on Mayor Bloomberg to reconsider what they called “an eviction notice” and warning that the world was watching.
“Mr. Mayor? You want to clean up something? Clean up these crooks on Wall Street!” said Council Member Charles Barron. “This is how revolutions start.”
On Twitter, noted author Salman Rushdie called the eviction “a crime against liberty.”
The rag tag movement’s biggest boosts have come from sympathy over heavy-handed police tactics.
Mass arrests Friday might simply fuel Occupy Wall Street.
“It’s terrible optics for the mayor,” said Doug Forand, spokesman for 99 New York, a new progressive coalition.
“If the police come in with batons and pepper spray, they are going to inspire more support. If that’s not what what the Mayor wants to do, he should reconsider his options.”
