Protesters ready for 'Day of Action'

Tens of thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters are set to take their movement to subways, bridges and streets Thursday for an "International Day of Action."

Protesters are expected to amass on Wall Street, key transit hubs and the Brooklyn Bridge, after the NYPD's raid of the Zuccotti Park encampment early Tuesday.

"Everything we have seen and heard suggests we may see tens of thousands people tomorrow protesting," Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson told reporters Wednesday at a news briefing. "Protesters are calling for a massive event disrupting major parts of the city."

Police plan to have borough task forces activated to beef up local precinct commands, said a top NYPD official who did not want to be named.

The NYPD will also have additional officers on trains and in subway stations. Police have spent $7 million in overtime so far on Occupy events, not including the Tuesday raid, officials said.

"Make no mistake, public safety is first and foremost," said Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway. "We will ensure that the city continues to run; people need to drive down the streets and use essential services."

The actions by Occupy Wall Street mark the movement's two-month anniversary and were planned long before the raid on Zuccotti Park, according to the group's website.

After police cleared protesters from the park Tuesday, occupiers were allowed to return later under a court order that barred anyone from entering the park with sleeping bags, tents or other camping gear.

"I hope to remain as inconvenient as possible until the world starts to change," said Priscilla Grim, an unemployed social media strategist from Brooklyn who was at the cleaned Zuccotti Park Wednesday. "I am here to be as inconvenient as possible until power shifts."

Grim says she will be among a group that will amass Thursday morning outside the New York Stock Exchange in what is billed on the Occupy website as a "shut down Wall Street" event.

At the city Department of Sanitation in midtown, scores of protesters like Nidhal Haddad, 26, of Los Angeles, searched through piles of property seized by police.

"I feel like a refugee," Haddad said after finding his camera in a backpack.

At Zuccotti Park, about 50 protesters gathered after dark despite the steady rain.

Protest organizers, including Mark Bray of Jersey City, were focused on Thursday's actions.

"We'll look at it more of a reaffirmation of our movement," Bray said.

With Keith Herbert, Chau Lam and Alfonso Castillo