Occupy protesters 'figuring out' next moves

Huddled against a bitterly cold wind early Saturday, Matt Fillare and about a dozen other protesters hunkered down in Zuccotti Park. Fillare, 22, a cultural anthropology student from New Jersey, recounted spending his first night at the park in the "Nordic cold."

He said he was motivated to come after watching the live feeds streamed by Occupy Wall Street protesters as police moved in to evacuate the park early Tuesday.

"They [police] stopped the media from covering what they were doing," he said. "I came because there wasn't a more important place for me to be. This is the largest movement of my generation thus far and everything I learned at school is moot unless I put it into practice . . . The widening gap between the rich and poor in this country can't be ignored."

Organizers said post-eviction, protesters have divided into roughly four groups: people for whom the park was a critical part of the experience and had become their home and social universe; others who believe physical occupation is vital to the movement's symbolism and are energized to occupy sites elsewhere; people who saw occupation as just one tactic and found Zuccotti to have become something of a burden; and, lastly, a small number who expressed interest in making it an office-based movement.

"We're figuring it out," said musician Steve Baldwin, 55, of Brooklyn, who has been at the park on and off for two months. "The issues we have to address now are changing -- the crime, filth and sanitation at the park had become a bit of a horror."

Indications that Occupy Wall Street is retooling are evident -- 18 working group meetings, "teach-ins" or other events, were scheduled for Saturday. By midafternoon, numbers at the park had swelled again to about 200 people.

There's a sense the pressure's off and that while much had been achieved at the park, protesters can now refocus, said organizer Michael Fix. "We've cultivated a strong talent pool, we're more confident and it's my feeling it comes back stronger from here."

Amid the bravado after a week in which thousands marched Thursday across the Brooklyn Bridge, about 250 protesters were arrested, many lost their possessions during the park eviction and some were injured in clashes with police, there was anger at the eviction and violence.

"Evolution is sloppy," Fix said. "Now there's an opportunity to reinvent and apply new tactics," he said, adding that several actions were planned, including occupation of foreclosed homes.

Eric Alexander, a member of the kitchen working group, explained how he helped feed and distribute blankets to 500 people at six locations around Manhattan overnight Friday.

"When I look at the action Thursday, the incredible support we got, the success of the movement so far and the spirits of people around me, I see we are refocusing, regrouping. I believe our will is indomitable, our cause righteous and we're not going anywhere -- physically we may go all kinds of places, but the movement has not been evicted."