LIVE: OWS New Year's Eve Festivities

MIDNIGHT UPDATE: Liberty Square has been retaken. New York, get down there now! See below for Live updates from the ground.

Tonight, expect a General Assembly in Liberty Square at 7pm, a noise demo in front of the Manhattan jail at 9pm, regrouping en masse at Liberty Square between 10pm and midnight, then partying in the streets as we go mobile. See here for full plans for the night!

GAs, protests, and parties are also taking place at Occupations in Boston, Oakland, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Nashville, Tampa, Bloomington, Toronto, Amsterdam, Tahir Square in Cairo, and elsewhere across the world. Find your local Occupy and come out if you can! What better way to bring in the new year than making a New Year's REVOLUTION?

If you can't make it out, find your local Occupation's livestream and social media accounts -- it's even better than watching the ball drop. New York livestreams have been intermittent. Try:

• occupystreams.org/item/occupy-wall-st-
• livestream.com/globalrevolution
• livestream.com/occupynyc2
• ustream.tv/

Live Updates from the Ground:

• 5:05am: If you know someone who was arrested, call the NLG at (212) 679-6018. Full name and birthdate are helpful. Happy new year!
• 4:05am: 30+ arrests throughout the night. Some still rallying at 13th st and 2nd ave.
• 3:28am: Arrested livestreamers & tweeters active inside NYPD paddy wagon before NYPD turned off lights in van.
• 3:12am: NYPD ejected Nat'l Lawyers Guild observer. Observer left and made phone call. NYPD demanded NLG observer put down phone, then arrested the observer.
• 3:10am: NYPD physically threw livestreamers out of the group before making indiscriminate arrests of random pedestrians.
• 3:07am: NYPD blockaded sidewalk, forced march to stop, threatened to arrest marchers for blocking the sidewalk. Mass arrest now brutalizing peaceful demonstrators.
• 2:30am: Dozens of arrests made at 13th & 5th ave. Some still marching down 6th Ave. Targeting journalists, photographers, livestreamers with violence. Liberty Square mostly dispersed, crowds gone out to celebrate and prepare for the New Year.
• 2:20am: Police block off street, mass violent arrests happening!
• 2:10am: Mass of police vehicles rush north on Church Street, sirens and lights blaring, presumably after march up 7th Ave to Union Square.
• 2:00am: Police using horses to clear sidewalks, attacking peaceful protesters in the street. Hundreds of police vehicles. Arrests also reported at march in Soho.
• 1:30am: NYPD orders dispersal, arrests begin. Police clearing "Liberty Mountain." Some Occupiers marching to 7th Precinct to support arrested protesters.
• 1:20am: Pounding batons, hundreds of police combing area asking for "official press passes." Arrests anticipated.
• 1:05am: March at Fulton and Nassau, police still following. Reports police attempting to kettle protesters on sidewalks. A few more arrests reported. Others headed back to defend Liberty Square, where riot police continue to mass and threaten Occupiers.
• 12:45pm: Thousands still in Square, as march leaves Liberty. Headed down Broadway, police moving in pursuit.
• 12:40pm: Party continues at Liberty. Cops backing down for now. Barricades are twinkling after Occupiers hung lights across piled barricades.
• 12:00pm: Happy New Year from OCCUPIED Liberty Square! Thousands already here. JOIN US!
• 11:50pm: Riot cops, batons drawn, mobilizing in formation. Police mounted on horses. More barricades taken down, piled in center of park.
• 11:30pm: Party continues on "Liberty Mountain" (the pile of barricades). More pics here.
• 11:20pm: Police losing control. Barricade pile growing as Occupiers continue to clear them from sidewalks on all sides of park.
• 11:10pm: Medics tending to pepper spray victims. Some directly sprayed, others hit indirectly. Meanwhile, the People's Kitchen is back open in Liberty Square! Also, mainstream media reporting Dept. of Homeland Security seen on ground.
• 11:05pm: More police brutality reported. Cops shove barricade into protester's face; pepper spray confirmed. From NYC_GA Twitter: "Bloodied protester being dragged away by #NYPD"
• 11:00pm: More police vehicles showing up. On south side, protesters removed barricades, piled them together, dancing on top! Huge crowd in park. Reports pepper spray used by police.
• 10:55pm: The People's Library has returned to Liberty Square! [Picture here.] tz55A67WQ
• 10:45pm: Protesters corralled into Liberty Square and surrounded by police. From Twitter: "Cops are swarming liberty square, tearing down their own barricade in their pursuit of protesters. People are being forced back in the park (#irony)"
• 10:40pm: Multiple Occupy groups on the move throughout lower Manhattan. More arrests on livestream. Liberty Square barricades torn down by protesters; Occupiers inside. OWS New York is taking back our home!
• 10:20pm: More arrests. At least four confirmed.
• 10:10pm: NYPD has blocked off Bowery & Canal, racing to catch up to the march.
• 10:00pm: Police appear at anti-prison march, protesters continue march with banners, chanting "Occupy Wall Street is in town, burn the prisons to the ground!'" Unconfirmed reports of at least one arrest.
• 9:30pm: Meanwhile in Boston, the 99% "Bat Signal" returns!
• 9:50pm: Anti-prison rally making tons of noise with horns, drums, whistles, chanting. Now taking the streets, headed to Liberty.Photo from Twitter
• 9:20pm: Protesters assemble at Noise Demo outside Manhattan jail, addressing prisoners inside with People's Mic.
• 9:00pm: Four year old under threat of arrest hands over tent to Bloomberg's publicly funded private army. American flag not let into Liberty Square, under pretense that flagpole was a weapon.
• 8:45pm: Occupiers jumping NYPD barricades around Liberty. Discussion heard via mic check between NYPD and mom and children with tent. Brookfield Properties security seen carrying away tiny tent.
• 8:00pm: After Occupiers hold General Assembly in Liberty Square, NYPD closes off access to the park claiming rule violations because some people (including children) set up a "toy-sized" (via Newyorkist) tent. Protesters now marching around Liberty Park chanting "All Day, All Week, Occupy Wall Street!"