City to Occupy: Clear out of Dilworth by Sunday, 5 p.m.

City officials have given Occupy Philadelphia protesters a Sunday-evening deadline to vacate Dilworth Plaza next to City Hall.

The protestors first set up their tent city on the site 49 days ago.

Mayor Nutter said Friday that the protesters have to go because of a $50 million makeover of the public space.  

The 48 hour notice gives the protesters until 5 p.m. Sunday to clear out of the plaza, Nutter said.

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“I’m not going to try and predict what’s going to happen on Sunday at 5 p.m.,” he said. “I’m hopeful for cooperation as we have seen in the past and if there is some other circumstance or situation out there late on Sunday night we will deal with what we are faced with.”

A group known as Reasonable Solutions has been given a permit for a daytime only protest across the street at Paine Plaza. 

Randy Quinn  of Reasonable Solutions said continuing the round-the-clock protest was beginning to seem impractical.

“We are at this point declaring victory we have as the 99 percent shown that we can peacefully assemble and to show that we are a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “But we feel it’s mature and responsible of us to recognize that a winter occupation in Northeast city might not be the most reasonable thing to try to endeavor to do.”

 A key idea of the national Occupy movement has been that 99 percent of Americans need to reclaim the power that has come to be controlled by the richest 1 percent of America.

Gwen Snyder of Occupy says the bid for that daytime permit was not approved by the main group.

“This is a small splinter group that decided that it was going to sign a deal with the city and preempt the majority of the occupation,” she said.

Other Occupy members say they will decide when the time comes whether to vacate, or hunker down at Dilworth and face arrest.

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