NEW YORK?? Protesters with the Occupy Wall Street movement threatened on Thursday to block efforts to clean up the Lower Manhattan park where they set up camp nearly a month ago, raising concerns of a showdown with authorities.
While New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the protests against economic inequality can continue as long as laws are obeyed, the private owner of the publicly accessible Zuccotti Park said the park needs to be cleaned.
Volunteers launched a cleanup effort on Thursday afternoon, with protesters urging each other to "pick up a broom, pick up trash," The New York Times reported.
"The cleanup is a pretext to remove us from the camp. And we can return only if we abide by the rules of Brookfield Properties," said Justin Wedes, 25, a public high school science teacher from Brooklyn who was sweeping the pavement with others. "We're redoubling our efforts today."
A source told NBC News' Michelle Franzen that protesters were hoping Thursday's cleanup effort would be enough to allow them to stay in the park, but demonstrators were prepared to hold their ground if they were told to leave.
Owner Brookfield Office Properties plans to clean the park where several hundred protesters have been sleeping on Friday, a move that demonstrators believe is a ploy to remove them.
PhotoBlog: A 360 degree view of Zuccotti Park
"Seems likely that this is their attempt to shut down #OWS (Occupy Wall Street) for good," protesters said in a statement on Thursday. "We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street ... We won't allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic."
Brookfield Office Properties representatives, escorted by police, handed out notices to the protesters on Thursday to tell them that the park would be cleaned in three stages and would reopen for public use consistent with park regulations.
But the rules ban camping, tents or other structures, lying down on the ground, placing tarps or sleeping bags on the ground and the storage personal property -- everything the protesters have been doing since they set up on September 17.
"Brookfield respects the rights of free speech, assembly, and peaceful protest," the company said in a statement.
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Police said they will be on hand to ensure public order, but it is up to Brookfield Office Properties to enforce the rules of its park. Police will only become involved if laws are broken or if an official complaint is made by the park owners.
"I'm worried there is going to be a riot," said Lauren DiGioia, 26, who has spent the past week at Zuccotti Park and is a member of Occupy Wall Street's sanitation committee. "It is most definitely a ploy to get us out."
"This is the cleanest protest I've ever witnessed," said Emilio Montilla, 29, a laid-off teacher's assistant. "We take care of ourselves. We're self-sufficient."
Story: A not-really-on-Wall-St. protest, but the fallout still felt there'Wear and tear' on park
"They're going to use the cleanup to get us out of here!" Wedes said. "It's a de facto eviction notice."
Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said in a statement Wednesday that the protest has "created unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park." He said Brookfield asked for police help to clear the park so it can be cleaned.
Holloway said the cleaning will be done in stages Friday. Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the protesters Wednesday to offer assurances.
Allison Esso of Human Services Council, a group that supports the protesters, was wary. "I'm hoping that they're not trying to undermine their ability to protest," she said.
The protest has sympathetic groups in other cities which each 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.
Field Notes: 'Occupiers' share protest images
World reaction
The movement has also drawn reaction from world leaders, including President Barack Obama, former Polish President Lech Walesa and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Walesa said Thursday that he supports the New York protest and is planning to either visit or write a letter to the protesters. He said the global economic crisis has made people aware that "we need to change the capitalist system" because we need "more justice, more people's interests, and less money for money's sake."
Story: Old guard back in the trenches at 'Occupy' protestsKhamenei said Wednesday that the wave of protests reflects a serious problem that will ultimately topple capitalism in America. He claimed the United States is in a full-blown crisis because its "corrupt foundation has been exposed to the American people."
Khamenei's remarks came a day after U.S. officials said the Obama administration plans to leverage charges that Iran plotted to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador into a new global campaign to isolate the Islamic republic.
Protesters, who have been living, sleeping and eating in the park for the duration, say they are in it for the long haul, despite the onset of cold weather.
First Read: Americans' views on 'Occupy Wall Street'
On Wednesday, police arrested four people outside JP Morgan Chase offices where Wall Street protesters called in vain for a meeting with Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. Protesters accused the police of rough handling. An Associated Press photographer witnessed police officers heading into the crowd of demonstrators to make the arrests.
Meanwhile, about 700 members of the Service Employees International Union marched through the Financial District; the union, which represents 23,000 office cleaners, is gearing up for contract negotiations with the Realty Advisory Board.
More protests are planned in Toronto and Vancouver this weekend, and European activists also are organizing.
A lawyer for a woman pepper-sprayed during an action last month is demanding that the Manhattan district attorney prosecute an NYPD deputy inspector on an assault charge. Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the matter was being investigated by police internal affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News' Michelle Franzen contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44891919/ns/us_news-life/
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