NY protesters clean park, some may resist removal (AP)

NEW YORK ? Wall Street protesters scrubbed, mopped and picked up garbage at the corporate-owned park they have been occupying in an attempt to stave off a scheduled cleanup Friday that demonstrators suspect is a pretext to evict them.

After moving out mattresses and camping supplies, organizers were mixed on how they would respond when police arrive at the request of Zuccotti Park owners to help remove the occupiers from the public plaza so it can be cleaned.

Some protesters said they would resist; others planned to cooperate but engage in nonviolent civil disobedience if they were not allowed back in the park.

Publicly-traded real estate firm Brookfield Office Properties planned to begin a section-by-section power-washing at 7 a.m. EDT. The company called the conditions at the park unsanitary and unsafe.

Han Shan, 39, of New York, a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street, said it was clear to everyone that the plan is to shut down the protest.

"There is a strong commitment to nonviolence, but I know people are going to vigorously resist eviction," he said. "I think we're going to see a huge number of supporters throughout New York and the surrounding area defend this thing ... I'm hoping that cooler heads will prevail, but I'm not holding my breath."

In early Friday darkness, protesters were still busy cleaning while a light rain fell. The group's sanitation team had hired a private garbage truck to pick up discarded curbside garbage.

A few people hunkered down under tarps but few slept. Police kept a low profile ? a couple of officers walked through the encampment while other police sat in vans.

Protesters would be allowed to return after the Brookfield cleanup, which was expected to take 12 hours, but the company said it plans to start enforcing regulations that have been ignored.

No more tarps, no more sleeping bags, no more storing personal property on the ground. In other words, no more camping out for the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who have been living at the lower Manhattan park for weeks. The park is privately owned but is required to be open to the public 24 hours per day.

The demand that protesters clear out sets up a turning point in a movement that began Sept. 17 with a small group of activists and has swelled to include several thousand people at times, from many walks of life. Occupy Wall Street has inspired similar demonstrations across the country and become an issue in the Republican presidential primary race.

The protesters' demands are wide-ranging, but they are united in blaming Wall Street and corporate interests for the economic pain they say all but the wealthiest Americans have endured since the financial meltdown.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose girlfriend is a member of Brookfield's board of directors, said Brookfield has requested the city's assistance in maintaining the park.

"We will continue to defend and guarantee their free speech rights, but those rights do not include the ability to infringe on the rights of others," Bloomberg spokesman Marc La Vorgna said, "which is why the rules governing the park will be enforced."

Thursday, protesters said that the only way they would leave is by force. Organizers sent out a mass email asking supporters to "defend the occupation from eviction."

Nicole Carty, a 23-year-old from Atlanta, hoped the group's cleaning effort would stave off any confrontation.

"We tell them, `Hey the park is clean, there's no need for you to be here,'" she said. "If they insist on coming in, we will continue to occupy the space."

Protesters have had some run-ins with police, but mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge and an incident in which some protesters were pepper-sprayed seemed to energize their movement.

The New York Police Department said it will make arrests if Brookfield requests it and laws are broken. Brookfield would not comment on how it will ensure that protesters do not try to set up camp again, only saying that the cleaning was necessary.

Bill de Blasio, the city's public advocate, expressed concern over the city's actions as he inspected the park Thursday afternoon and listened to protesters' complaints.

"This has been a very peaceful movement by the people," he said. "I'm concerned about this new set of policies. At the very least, the city should slow down."

Attorneys from the New York City chapter of the National Lawyers Guild ? who are representing an Occupy Wall Street sanitation working group ? have written a letter to Brookfield saying the company's request to get police to help implement its cleanup plan threatens "fundamental constitutional rights."

"There is no basis in the law for your request for police intervention, nor have you cited any," the attorneys wrote in a letter Thursday to Brookfield CEO Richard B. Clark.

The protest has led sympathetic groups in other cities to stage their own local rallies and demonstrations: Occupy Boston, Occupy Cincinnati, Occupy Houston, Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Philadelphia, Occupy Providence, Occupy Salt Lake and Occupy Seattle, among them.

Occupy Seattle protesters running a live video feed from their corporate power protest at Seattle's Westlake Park said police started making arrests Thursday. Police confirmed that 10 people were arrested. City law bans camping in parks.

Several protests are planned this weekend across the U.S. and Canada, and European activists are also organizing.

___

Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela, Colleen Long and Cristian Salazar contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111014/ap_on_re_us/us_wall_street_protest

lizzie borden lizzie borden dwts results vanessa paradis vanessa paradis when will ios 5 be released when will ios 5 be released