Police officers at contront an Occupy Wall Street protestor. Photo: David Shankbone.

At the direction of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYPD officers removed the “tent city” that had taken over Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.  The site was cleared and cleaned early Tuesday morning as some 200 protestors chanted “Whose park? Our park!” The rules governing the park include “no sleeping and camping rules.”

Just before 2 a.m., NYPD officers cleared materials from the park. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly supervised the operation. According to the Associated Press, Police Department spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said that 70 people had been arrested in the park, including some who had chained themselves together.

Protesters, said the Mayor’s Office had made the park “unavailable to anyone else.” “Make no mistake,” the mayor said, “the final decision to act was mine.” Via twitter, his office (at 1:19 a.m.) said “Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protesters can return after the park is cleared.”