I guess my question is why don't they move around the city/cities that they occupy to other public parks? Why overstay your welcome in one area? Wouldn't this increase visibility?

On one of this AM's segments you just played Bloomberg saying that the OWS protesters needed to be removed because they were violating Brookfield Properties "property rights."

Zucotti Park is the kind of quasi-public space we now see replacing and substituting what used clearly to be public space. So Bloomberg is making the case that Brookfield’s ownership private rights were an operative factor justifying constriction of the protesters’ rights to free speech and free assembly. The argument that free speech violates property rights is increasingly easy as the skewing of wealth in this country to the 1% conjoins with a rapid and continuing privatization of what was previously public.

In the press conference Bloomberg said that throughout the crisis he had been in constant contact with Brookfield Properties. This was despite the fact that earlier in the coverage of Occupy Wall Street the Bloomberg’s administration had prevailed upon the New York Times to report that Bloomberg’s staff was under “strict orders from Mr. Bloomberg” not to “lobby the owner of the park, Brookfield Office Properties.” I did not hear anyone at that press conference ask Mr. Bloomberg about the fact that his live-in girlfriend companion, Diana Taylor, is on the board of Brookfield.

For more on this see Noticing New York's article:Breaking News: 1:00 AM Bloomberg Moves In To Evict Occupy Wall Street Protesters
http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2011/11/breaking-news-100-am-bloomberg-moves-in.html

i hope they turn up somewhere else real soon.
keep on the move this time.

Who is this "reporter": "unspeakable economic suffering"? Bloomberg's out of touch? How does someone with a $200 i-phone exemplify "unspeakable economic suffering"? I don't own an i-phone. Am I suffering unspeakable economic hardship?

Give me a break, lady. This ain't downtown Karachi. People living within a few feet of an open sewer is suffering. Refusing to drive a truck when you're a fina arts major is just stupid.

Thank goodness these squatters are gone!! Enough is enough! Their message was misdirected & the park was becoming a shantytown, drug den, homeless shelter, health issue and dangerous place for women. Honestly, why don't the real "activist" protest the politicians working to prevent Obama's Job Plan from passing, or those who don't want to see the million's tax expire, etc.

Lets get something straight... I work and frequently shop in Lower Manhattan. OWS had ZERO impact on business down there. In fact, it helped many small businesses down there as many eateries around the encampment got a boost in business with those protesters. Also, its kinda funny that it was called Occupy "Wall Street" because the protest wasn't even on Wall St. It was on Liberty and Broadway (3 blocks away) and if you were on Wall St you wouldn't even know there was a protest going on.

If you work/live in FiDi, you understand that business down there is very competitive. You need to have good products and decent prices. The businesses that closed down in the past couple of months had NOTHING to do with OWS. They closed because they lost their lease or their service was bad.

There is a slide at NY Times breaking news site with this caption:

A protester pours liquid over the eyes of a fellow protester to ease the pain from pepper spray during the police action to move protesters out of Zuccotti Park early Tuesday.

Many of these questions can be answered by reviewing the webstream that was live from the park last night. There was tear gas used, including upon the last occupiers in the park, who were huddled around the kitchen in the park. Tear gas was visible via the webstream, as well as isolated incidents of pepper spray in different places. The webstream was the only media presence, because the police kept all TV trucks and reporters from getting within a couple blocks of the park.

I'm not prone to Big Brother conspiracies, but I find the removal of personal property--returned only when protesters come and present ID--as a somewhat sinister way of establishing the identities of all those involved in the Occupy Wall St. movement. Perhaps another major reason why this was a stealth move, not pre-announced?

Not to nitpick but when you ask "why did police do this" the obvious answer is because they were told to do it. Whatever your opinion, please don't blame the police for doing their jobs. They are working people, too!

The Mayor is such a hypocrite. To tell the OWS protesters that they can go to the Sanitation Garage with ID and retrieve their belongings is a BIG LIE.
I watched the live streams last night from 1:10 am until 5 am this morning. If you saw the way the Sanitation workers and police just ripped things apart, and the Sanitation workers dumping all into huge junk piles with such glee, they were enjoying the destruction! and tthey dumped garbage on top. Then the piles was hoisted into garbage trucks, piles of junk that no one will ever be able to sort out. But is was the scene of the Library that really
broke one's heart. What a liar this Mayor is, in 10 minutes notice, destruction. And the media was kept out, what does that say about freedom of speech. I admire the OWS protesters, who truly were admirable in their behavior. Please go and look at the fillms of the garbage truck pickkups/.
Then you will see what really occurred in 10 minutes notice. Goldman Sacks has the video I'm sure....

I think the camping probably shouldn't be allowed, but not on the grounds being argued. It's not just a private space, it's a private/public space. There's tons of these and the companies that own them get benefits for this mixed public use.

The issue would be that tents aren't allowed in regular public parks, so why would they be here. Buts let's stop acting like this a normal "plain vanilla" private space.

I saw a protester defecate behind the newsstand infront of the McDonalds on broadway, way to protest YEAH, made my day.

How much is the right of the protesters to keep their tents covered by the free speech clause of the First Amendment & how much by the peaceable assembly clause?

Can I have the lawyer's address so I can move into his home. I have a protest planned in his private property

Is Gideon the same lawyer who helps Critical Mass riders? Please thank him
for all he does.

Things I understand: That Bloomberg's on-air composure could mask some unpleasant police actions. That the OWS camp-out element being called free speech is stretching it. That being awoken and marched at 1 am would probably make for some cranky and incoherent comments - today. That not producing results regularly is to lose some important public support.
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Something I didn't understand: What happened between getting the police notification and then being separated from the encampment so That couldn't be moved. Please explain.
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I also believe that the general assembly could continue handily online. Make an official website - Please! Me, I'll likely buy or at least browse the next issues of the following magazines: 2600, AdBusters.

Bloomberg's decision to be heavy-handed with the peaceful protestors
will most likely be a hollow victory at best.

As a practical matter, what if the protesters decide to engage in other
non-violent civil disobedience ?

If the protesters chose to "Occupy the Subways", it would take very
few sick passengers or peaceful acts of civil disobedience to completely
tie up a subway line during rush hour.

If the protesters chose to "Occupy the buses", it would take very
few passengers on wheelchairs getting on and off buses at every stop
or peaceful acts of f civil disobedience to completely tie up buses during rush hour.

If the protesters chose to follow European style acts of peaceful civil
disobedience, they could use trucks or heavy equipment or accidently
spilled cargo to tie up car traffic during rush hour.

There are probably many highly inconveniencing acts of peaceful civil
disobedience that the protesters could have turned to, but all they
wanted to do is use their first amendment rights to peaceful assemble
and be heard.

Bloomberg is sadly showing his true colors as a finance industry billionaire.
He is surrounded by successful people and has clearly lost touch with
the suffering of a great number of this city's citizens.

Far more important than the practical disruptions caused by the
peaceful occupation of the park is the essential importance of
the fundamental freedoms of speech and assembly.

If freedom of assembly and freedom of speech is limited to only
include people who can pay for permits or rental of private property,
if freedom of assembly and freedom of speech is limited to only include
people who can win the permission of their rulers, than it is empty.

If the Mayor is concerned about fire safety, then provide fire extinguishers
and battery generators. If he is concerned about sanitation, then provide
free public toilet facilities. But this is just a disingenuous ruse.

As Ben Franklin said : "those who chose safety over liberty will
find themselves with neither."

Bloomberg is an evil dictator who thinks he owns ny, he doesnt understand that only demons support his decrepid mentality.