Bayside Activists Disappointed by Zuccotti Eviction

Scat!

The Occupy Wall Street encampment was busted up by NYPD during a 1 a.m. operation on Tuesday. Protesters were forced to remove their tents, sleeping bags and other gear. They were told they could come back to protest without their makeshift domiciles, once Brookfield Properties and the Dept. of Sanitation had cleaned the grounds.

Steve Behar, a Bayside activist who had been a member of the Alternative Banking Working Group with other Occupy Wall Street protesters, blasted the mayor’s decision.

“It’s a shame that Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly have used the NYPD as a tool of the 1 percent so that the 99 percent of us cannot exercise our constitutional rights,” he said.

The NYPD said they did not have a final count of how many occupiers were arrested, but several sources have reported that 70 were taken to the clink.

"The late-night eviction of Occupy Wall Street members from Liberty Plaza is part of a national wave of police repression that makes a mockery of the First Amendment," said Occupy Bayside organizer, David R. Yale, who is also a Patch contributor and blogger. "The police actions say, loud and clear, that we're not allowed to protest anymore," he added.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision.

“Protestors have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments.”

Updated on Nov. 15, at 11:22a.m.