Occupy Wall Street Drops Suit Challenging Eviction from Zuccotti Park Updated January 23, 2012 6:05pm

LOWER MANHATTAN — Occupy Wall Street has dropped its lawsuit against the city and Brookfield Properties over the eviction of protesters from Zuccotti Park last November, which sparked a violent clash with cops and hundreds of arrests, court papers show.

The protesters decided to drop the suit because now that Zuccotti Park is open and free of police barricades, they no longer have a complaint, said lawyer Alan Levine, who represents the protesters.

"The case was withdrawn because what we wanted was unimpeded access to Zuccotti Park for First Amendment activities, and that's what is permitted," Levine said Monday. "So there's no need for the lawsuit."

Levine filed court papers dated Jan. 20 saying he was discontinuing the lawsuit against Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brookfield CEO Richard Clark and others. The lawsuit listed Jennifer Waller, an Occupy Wall Street protester, as the plaintiff.

The protesters sued the city immediately after their Nov. 15 eviction from Zuccotti Park, alleging that the city had violated their First Amendment rights by removing them and shutting down the park, which is owned by Brookfield Properties but is required to be open to the public 24 hours a day.

The city allowed the protesters to return but subjected them to security screening and prevented them from setting up tents and sleeping bags in the park.

Levine said he still believed the protesters have the right to put up tents, but he said it was "not an issue" currently.

"As long as free speech is permitted, there's nothing to sue about," he said.

However, Levine added, "If Occupy Wall Street attempts to put up tents again and they're denied the right to put them up, we will meet to consider whether or not another lawsuit ought to be brought."

Sheryl Neufeld, a senior lawyer for the city, praised the protesters' decision not to move forward with the case.

"We think the plaintiff made the right move in withdrawing her case, as it has no merit," Neufeld said in a statement.

Not all the protesters agreed that they had regained their First Amendment rights in Zuccotti Park.

Linnea Palmer Paton, 23, a protester who lives in Washington Heights, said the many rules that now govern Zuccotti Park, including the ban on sleeping bags and tents, make it impossible for protesters to fully exercise their rights.

"All these restrictions that keep becoming more complex and more specific are an infringement on speech," she said.

Occupy Wall Street did not immediately have an official comment.

With reporting by Shayna Jacobs

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By Julie Shapiro, DNAinfo.com

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