The story is still unfolding, but it's the lead story on the local news tonight. Police and sanitation workers moved in this morning and started dismantling the encampment in a surprise raid. Members of the occupation scrambled to salvage belongings and gear.
Up till now, the occupation had been largely non-violent; there had been confrontations with the police and arrests for trespassing on state property, but the local county DA David Soares refused to prosecute. Dialog had been going on; Governor Cuomo had been notably unhappy with the presence of the protestors as had Mayor Jennings, but it seemed some kind of accommodation might have been made. That ended with an order by a judge to clear the park.
The official rationale seems to be what has now become standard: "Health and Safety Issues, Assaults", etc. etc. Matters apparently came to the crunch when police moved to remove the last tent, one that had been set up as an information center. Accounts as to what happened next are still confused. Reports are pepper spray was used by the police while protestors allegedly threw oranges and attempted to form a human chain around the tent.
Eventually, accounts are the protestors picked up the tent, marched around the area with it, briefly blocking traffic, and eventually the last traces of the encampment were removed. As of 6:14pm local time there were still protestors in the area, along with city and state police, and local news reporters. Tempers are still high: protestors feel they were ambushed by the city while they had been negotiating in good faith. There has been an unknown number of arrests. The city's already issued statements that protestors will NOT be allowed to return to set up any kind of encampment.
The Albany Times Union has pictures and an account here; here's some video.
This is a quick write up, but that seems to be the story at the moment. No reports of serious injuries on either side, lots of unhappy people, and no telling where this will go next. While the occupation had garnered local news attention at first, it had largely faded from the local media over time. The issues that inspired the encampment are still very much alive, though how to keep them in play during the holiday weekends coming up was always going to be a problem.
It should be noted that one effect of the OWS protests may have paid off in New York State: a tax deal was arrived at in the face of continuing state budget shortfalls to finally address the revenue side of the equation.
It's not over.
3:40 PM PT: UPDATE: I should have know HB3 would be on the job: diary here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...