Occupy Wall Street Protestors Clean up, Plan to Stand Ground

Holloway also said in the statement that Brookfield had requested police help to clear Zuccotti Park for cleaning. Brookfield's cleaning is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Friday, according to a notice from the company.

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But some of the organizers and members of Occupy Wall Street expressed concern that the planned cleanup is a disguised attempt to force protestors out of the park. Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to alleviate those concerns Wednesday night when he visited Zuccotti Park and assured protestors they would be able to return once Brookfield's cleaning was completed.

But members of the protest and its organizers, like Desmond, weren't buying that. Part of the reason is that Brookfield Properties has also said it would start to enforce the park's bans on tents and sleeping bags, as well as lying down on the ground, benches, seating areas or walkways after the cleaning Friday.

"I think a lot of New Yorkers think that Mayor Bloomberg cares more about Wall Street than he does New Yorkers," Desmond said. "My hope is that he's able to see that this is one of the most significant places in our democracy right now. This is a place where people are trying to deal with our societal problems. My hope is that Mayor Bloomberg and the city will realize that."

Desmond and others, like 22-year-old Jordan McCarthy, then started a makeshift Occupy Wall Street cleaning crew. They received donations of cleaning supplies and set up a cleaning station in the center of Zuccotti Park.

The first step of the day was to get people in the park to consolidate their belongings. Though the general daily cleanup helps keep the park manageable, McCarthy said individual belongings had piled up - from wet clothes to personal items that volunteers weren't sure of whether to toss in the trash.

McCarthy said the members of Occupy Wall Street at the park would put their personal belongings in bags, and then the rest would be thrown away or donated. Finally, the deep cleaning, complete with a power wash, would begin.

"We're going to make this place sparkle," McCarthy told the IBTimes.

McCarthy said she would not resist Brookfield's attempt to clean the park, but she was sure others would resist and would be willing to get arrested.

Whatever the case, Occupy Wall Street as a whole was defiant. Scribbled in black on a whiteboard in front of the cleaning station were the words, "No matter what they try, they will not stop us!!!" An unofficial slogan -- "The revolution will be sanitized" -- also floated around Zuccotti Park.

Brendan Burke, one of the lead organizers of Occupy Wall Street, said the group would be willing to work with Brookfield Properties in cleaning the park. But he emphasized that no one would be forced to leave, and the group would use non-violent, peaceful means to accomplish that.

To Burke, even cleaning goes back to the group's self-actualization.

"We are that kind of group," Burke told the IBTimes. "And I think we can do it ourselves. We just need to prove to the world that we can."

b.logiurato@IBTimes.com