Protesters stand-up to cops at OWS
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was damned if he did and damned if he didn't clear Zuccotti Park where the Occupy Wall Street protesters had been gathered for almost two months now.

In the event the city decided to move when the news of a shutdown of Wall Street was due for Thursday this week, disrupting the financial center with a day long carnival.

In addition business owners and communities who lived near the park had reached breaking point with the protesters,claiming lost sales and incessant noise all night long from the camp.
----------------------
READ MORE:
More stories on US politics from IrishCentral

US tourist says she captured image of Jesus on Cliffs of Moher

Irish American girl commits suicide in repeat of Phoebe Prince storyline
----------------------
Even the protesters themselves had reached the point where they were uncertain what to do next. A harsh winter looms and there were increasing tales of robberies and mentally ill mixing with the groups.

There was no easy solution and Kelly and his boss Michael Bloomberg had clearly wrestled with the right course of action for weeks now.

A police captain referred to health and safety hazards when announcing the park would be cleared

Closing down the camp must have seemed like the best of a list of bad options.

But is is by no means clear that is how it will turn out.

The Occupy Wall Street group struck a huge chord, not just across the nation but across the world .

They changed the political dynamic, forcing attention on those who through greed cratered the economy yet got away scot free while the 99 per cent of ordinary folk continue to suffer in the deep recession.

In real terms the occupiers can claim victory for changing the mindset where the Tea Party were seen as the only motivated, activist group on the political landscape.

There is now a solid counterweight to their argument that the only culprit for the financial mess was government mishandling.

This debate will play out all the way through the 2012 elections.

The clearing of Zuccotti Park is just the latest chapter to unfold.

But it will not be the last.