Occupy Wall Street protesters have moved back into New York's Zuccotti Park after barricades were lifted. This comes after civil liberties groups sent letters to the city, saying the barriers broke zoning laws.
On Monday, civil rights groups filed a complaint with the city's Buildings Department, saying Zuccotti Park is a publicly-owned private plaza and is required to be open 24 hours a day.Barricades have been in place since mid-November when the occupiers were evicted in a night raid by police. But now that the barriers are gone, the protesters are determined to stay.RT’s Anastasia Churkina reports, protesters at the park are very optimistic. “People seem re-energized. They are excited to be able to get back to Zuccotti Park – the birth place of the Occupy Wall Street.”“A lot of the skeptics were hoping that after the ‘occupiers’ were kicked of Zuccotti Park that would be the end of Occupy Wall Street. But certainly that has not been the case, and the protesters themselves believe this and they see this as a new chapter for the whole movement, that has become nationwide,” says Churkina.However, sleeping, tents and sleeping bags have been banned from the park since a November 15 police raid evicted protesters. They can technically stay overnight at the park, but they will not be able to sleep without the tents. Nevertheless, ‘occupiers’ are hopeful that they come back full force in spring once it becomes warmer. “As we move into the spring, I think that this will return to being our hub for the movement,” one protester told RT.