From the Daily News' Greg Smith:



A judge backed up Mayor Bloomberg’s clean sweep of Zuccotti Park Tuesday, ruling that the city has the right to keep Occupy Wall Street protestors from camping out in what’s supposed to be a 24-hour open space for all of the public.



The ruling from the bench by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman will likely be appealed so it’s not yet clear whether the city will reopen the park and allow in protestors – without tents.



The city had argued that the protestors had made the park unsafe and dangerous by erecting a warren of tents that made the place a firetrap and kept police from coming inside to enforce the law.



Lawyers for the protestors argued that the city unfairly infringed on their First Amendment rights, noting that the city has allowed others to pitch tents for flea markets in city parks for months at a time without police interference. (this post was originally posted at about 4:45pm)