The Tweets say it all. Looks like the threat of an ACLU suit prompted a response.
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
We r LIVE at #LibertySquare, where #BrookfieldProps has removed the barricades! Here: bambuser.com/v/2276758
LuddoftheFuture Sam J
Moving from #60wallst to zucotti, hearing that after an @aclu lawsuit the barricades are being taken down at @occupywallstnyc! @occupykst
10 minutes ago
Retweeted by OccupyWallStNYC
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
MT @luddofthefuture: #LibertySquare open! #Miccheck: "brookfield security said unless we do something stupid the park will remain open!"
1 minute ago
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
UPDATE: #NYPD Barricades have been removed from #LibertySquare MT @carriem213: yfrog.com/nxs5qoqj
2 minutes ago
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OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Hearing reports that barricades are Coming down at #LibertySquare!! Headed there now. ANYBODY CONFIRM? #OWS
2 minutes ago
3:42 PM PT: Livestream
3:44 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
People r hugging & rejoicing. 'You can't keep the people out of their park!' #OWS
3:45 PM PT:
1 new tweet
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Crew stacking and removing barricades.
1 minute ago
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JoshHarkinson Josh Harkinson
Now things get fun again RT @OccupyWallStNYC: #NYPD Barricades have been removed from #LibertySquare
2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply
Retweeted by susie_c
3:46 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
The park is already filling up with joyful people. The first "mic check" is heard. #OWS
3:48 PM PT: Drums! Not for my ears. But drums nonetheless.
3:50 PM PT: Background.
NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - While the birthplace of Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park, remains uninhabited by protesters after their eviction in November, the legal battle surrounding the movement continues.
In a letter sent to the New York City Department of Buildings on Monday, several advocacy groups asserted that the presence of barricades around much of the park, as well as security guards and police officers who bar people from bringing certain items into the square, violated legal requirements that the park remain publicly accessible.
The barricades run counter to zoning law requiring that at least 50 percent of the park's frontage be unobstructed and that circulation paths connect freely to the street, the letter said.
In addition, the groups argued, security guards and police arbitrarily have banned certain items from the park. These items, which are not prohibited by the park's rules of conduct, include food, musical instruments, cardboard signs, and yoga mats, according to the letter.
"These practices have substantially modified Liberty Plaza, making it a wholly inhospitable space for the public," the groups wrote, referring to the park by its former name. The letter was signed by representatives of the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild.
"What you can and can't bring changes all the time," Gideon Oliver, president of the New York chapter of the NLG, said in an interview. "It's very Alice in Wonderland."
http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/...
3:54 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Here's the scene at #LibertySquare: yfrog.us/iz85240091z
58 seconds ago
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Day 1 #Occupiers rejoicing on the barricades: pic.twitter.com/gsqgJxRO
1 minute ago
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OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
The last pic snapped before barricades went down: pic.twitter.com/q1RpPYmW
1 minute ago
3:56 PM PT: Chanting:
All Day. All Week. Occupy Wall Street.
3:57 PM PT:
lauradurkay Laura Durkay
Nypd took down all the barricades around zuccotti (by order if aclu apparently). We just walked right in! #ows
7 minutes ago
Retweeted by OccupiedOakTrib
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OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
Mic check! The #PeoplesLibrary is now OPEN! #OWS
1 minute ago
3:58 PM PT: Chanting
No. More. Barricades. Occupy Will Not Be Caged.
4:02 PM PT: Last Update for me for a few hours. And a good one!:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
ANNOUNCEMENT - #GeneralAssembly beginning shortly at its original location in #LibertySquare. Join us! #NYCGA #ows
7:17 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
"Mic check. We don't need to move the barricades anymore." (people now sitting where first #GeneralAssembly's held)
35 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply
8:55 PM PT: Here we go...
shentong ShenTong 沈彤
First group of re-occupiers just lie down in liberty Plaza #ows pic.twitter.com/OWB1wVNl
10:09 PM PT: Pizza!
mhbraverman maximilianbraverman
The gates are down, and the pizza is served at Liberty Plaza. #OWS @KeithOlbermann @JesseLaGreca
10:30 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
#Brookfield Security saying if we lie on cardboard they will ask the #NYPD to arrest us for trespassing. WATCH LIVE: owsnyc.tv
10:33 PM PT:
OccupyWallStNYC #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
MT @ows_live: #NYPD just announced that people are not allowed to SIT in the park or they will be arrested. (owsnyc.tv) #OWS
Sitting in a park. What could be more un-American?
10:46 PM PT: Livestream
10:53 PM PT:
JoeyBoots Joey Boots ✔
heading down to zuccotti now after nypd just announced if you "sit" in park u will be arrested - going to sit #OWS