The barricades surrounding Zuccotti Park were removed last night — and around 200 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators quickly returned to the lower Manhattan park.
The surprise move came a day after the New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups sent a letter to the Department of Buildings saying the barricades were against city zoning laws.
The NYPD said the barricades were removed because they “were not needed.”
The barricades were put in place following the November mass eviction of thousands of OWS protesters who were camping out in the privately owned park.
Word soon spread last night and many demonstrators returned.
“We lived here for three months before we got raided so for a lot of us this is a big homecoming,” said Embi Weitzle, 25, from Colorado.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the protesters planned to stay. Following November’s evictions, park-goers were banned from bringing sleeping equipment.
One man who tried to set up a tent last night had it torn down.