Read Turnstyle News’ Full Occupy Wall Street Coverage
Occupy Wall Street protesters spent Thursday night scrubbing and sweeping Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park), in an effort to avoid a pending eviction from the parks owners brought under the guise of bringing sanitation workers to clean up the park.
By 6:24am estimates of over 3,000 protesters, a mass of bodies spreading out throughout the 33,000-square-foot park, could be heard cheering. Officers kept bystanders moving along, while chants of “All Day! All week! Occupy Wall Street!”- echoed in the predawn hours.
Despite the denseness of the crowd, a few people could still be found sleeping in, while fellow protester speakers began to proclaim, “Victory has been won!”
Unsure of what this meant, one woman with a “The Revolution will be peaceful” sign on her bookbag asked, “What have we accomplished? Have they officially backed down?”
Later the crowd was informed that New York City Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway released the following statement:
Late last night, we received notice from the owners of Zuccotti Park – Brookfield Properties – that they are postponing their scheduled cleaning of the park, and for the time being withdrawing their request from earlier in the week for police assistance during their cleaning operation.
Most protesters celebrated the decision, but others were still on guard, as police with masks and zip-tie handcuffs, marched down Broadway for two blocks, only to then turn back before they got within an eye-shot of the park. The New York Times reported that up to 15 arrests were made in sporadic clashes between celebrating protesters and the New York Police Department.
In his statement, the Deputy Mayor also said “Brookfield believes they can work out an arrangement with the protesters.” For now protesters continue to occupy, relishing in what is, at the very least, a temporary victory.
Below, Turnstyle News contributor Veralyn Williams showcases the scene at Libery Park on the morning of October 14, 2011.
