This week, the NYPD told members of Community Board 1's Financial District Committee that the executives of Brookfield Properties, who manage Zuccotti Park, are the only ones who can kick out Occupy Wall Street protesters—not Mayor Bloomberg, not the police. But it seems even Brookfield may not have the authority to remove people from the park just yet.
A flyer has been distributed around Zuccotti Park yesterday in reaction to the NYPD's statement, and Bloomberg's ominous comments about the longevity of the protest. The flyer (which you can see in full below) quotes from "Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience"—which thankfully is available to read on Google Books. And Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza Park) is one of these privately owned public spaces (POPS). You can learn a bit about POPS here.
By this zoning definition, the park is open 24 hours a day—the park was given the designation of "Special permit plaza," most likely because developers wanted to exceed sizing limits in the area. Brookfield may not be able to call the cops to remove protesters from the property even if they wanted to, which may explain why they've only been criticizing OWS participants cleanliness so far.
