After yesterday's drama — the move by police to clear lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park of the Occupy Wall Street protesters who had been camping there for nearly two months — things are much different today.
"As a steady drizzle began early Wednesday morning, only a few dozen protesters remained in Zuccotti Park," The New York Times' City Room blog says.
Told by the city and a State Supreme Court judge that they can express themselves but not camp or sleep overnight in the privately owned park, most protesters opted to spend the night elsewhere. A handful, such as Dona Garcia of Brooklyn, tried through the night to sit up and fight off sleep.
As the day continues, though, the park is likely to fill up again. We'll watch for news from there.
Update at 12:30 p.m. ET: According to New York's Daily News, at around 11 a.m. ET, there were "about 45 protesters, about 60 media types, and about 100 security officers and NYPD officers."
Around 20 minutes later, "the amount of protesters [had] appeared to double" and the crowed seemed "more upbeat and festive."
From Our Original Post:
Meanwhile, NPR.org's Scott Neuman writes this morning that "as pressure mounts in cities across the country to evict Occupy protesters from parks and squares, the movement's supporters face a decision about what to do next. ... For hard-core supporters, it may simply be a case of changing venues. A movement called Occupy Colleges has pushed for a move to universities, where students already have been staging protests over higher tuition costs, among other grievances." And, social media will likely play increasingly important roles.
The Wall Street Journal says that "activists vowed that their protests would persist. Marches and other demonstrations were planned for Thursday, the two-month anniversary of the movement's founding. Some thought the eviction would galvanize their movement, which had become increasingly bogged down in running the miniature society created in the park."
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