Bloomberg backs down. A showdown between Occupy Wall Street and the NYPD was averted this morning – when Mayor Bloomberg and the property owners of the public park where demonstrators have been camped out for four weeks now delayed their plans to have the park cleared and cleaned up. On Wednesday – Bloomberg notified demonstrators they had to vacate the premise by 7am this morning – or face arrest.

But instead of leaving – demonstrators who feared this was merely a ploy to break up the occupation – spent all of Thursday cleaning the park themselves – then locked arm and arm and surrounded the park this morning daring the city to arrest them. Ultimately – no police action was taken. Once news got out that the park would not be cleared – a handful of demonstrators – armed with brooms – marched to Wall Street vowing to “clean it up.” A handful of arrests were reported during that march.

All in all – this is a big victory for the Occupy Wall Street movement – and a real sign of strength to force three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the police to back down.