Hundreds of police officers, some in riot gear, descended on Zuccotti Park overnight in a surprise sweep of the Occupy Wall Street headquarters that Mayor Bloomberg said had become an “intolerable situation.”

Hours later, a judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city from enforcing rules of the plaza — like a ban on tents and tarps — that she said were published “after the occupation began.” Bloomberg said at a City Hall briefing that the city had planned to let people back into the park at 8 a.m. but decided to keep it closed while officials evaluated the order.

Both sides were due in court at 11:30 a.m.

In the overnight raid, many protesters in the two-month-old occupation left peacefully, but some refused to go, chaining themselves to trees and to each other. They chanted at police, “Whose park? Our park!”

All protesters were cleared from the park by 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. Browne said there were about 70 arrests inside the park overnight and another to 30 to 40 arrests on Broadway as protesters tried to stop the evacuation. Among those arrested was City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.

Several hundred protesters gathered in nearby Foley Square, creating a makeshift headquarters as they weighed their next move. A message on the organizers’ website urged people to meet at Canal Street at 9 a.m., promising “you can’t evict an idea whose time had come.”

Bloomberg said at City Hall Tuesday that he and the owners of the plaza, Brookfield Properties, had become “increasingly concerned” that the occupation, which has used generators and other devices to keep warm, was beginning to pose a health and fire hazard to the demonstrators and Lower Manhattan community. There have been reports of scattered crime, and an EMT was injured responding to a call last week, he noted.

“Unfortunately, the park was becoming a place where people came not to protest, but rather to break laws, and in some cases, to harm others,” Bloomberg said. “The majority of protesters have been peaceful and responsible. But an unfortunate minority has not been – and as the number of protesters has grown, this has created an intolerable situation.”

He said protesters will be welcome to use the park to protest but have to follow the rules.

(Source: NBC New York)