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Occupy Philadelphia, on a much smaller scale, remains after the evacuation notice

Life at the Occupy Philadelphia encampment continued unabated Monday - although on a much smaller scale - despite the passing of Mayor Nutter's deadline for the protesters to evacuate the plaza in front of City Hall more than 24 hours earlier.

While Alicia Keen of Occupy Philadelphia rests inside her tent at Dilworth Plaza, sanitation crews haul out debris. (April Saul / Staff Photographer)
While Alicia Keen of Occupy Philadelphia rests inside her tent at Dilworth Plaza, sanitation crews haul out debris. (April Saul / Staff Photographer)Read more

Life at the Occupy Philadelphia encampment continued unabated Monday - although on a much smaller scale - despite the passing of Mayor Nutter's deadline for the protesters to evacuate the plaza in front of City Hall more than 24 hours earlier.

The protesters had been told to leave by 5 p.m. Sunday so construction could begin on a $50 million renovation of Dilworth Plaza, real estate the Occupy movement has turned into a tent city of political activism.

The city, after negotiating with segments of protesters, issued a permit that allows them to demonstrate across the street at Thomas Paine Plaza from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. but prohibits overnight camping.

That permit went into effect Monday, but few appeared to avail themselves of the opportunity to protest there.

"Our point simply is that people out on Dilworth Plaza are on a work site, they do not have a permit," said Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Nutter. "They need to pack up and leave."

About 75 tents remained on the plaza Monday, down from about 300 at the height of the protest. City sanitation workers moved throughout the plaza, removing trash and debris.

"It looks like a quiet day, hopefully," said Michael Pierce, an occupier from Mount Holly. "The whole goal today is to clean up all the messes left behind by the people who moved out."

Police remained in force at the edges of the plaza throughout the day, at times interacting with the occupiers as they served meals and pounded out rhythms in a drum circle.

The growing number of officers in the late afternoon sparked a "people's microphone" from the protesters expressing their feelings.

"It's making some people nervous," they said.

McDonald said he could not comment on when or if police would forcibly evacuate Dilworth, but said protesters would be given a final warning before arrests were made.

"We've been asking people to leave," he said. "We'll keep asking people to leave until a point in time when we won't ask anymore."

Although the city has negotiated with Occupy members throughout the eight weeks of demonstrations - and even provided the encampment with power from City Hall - McDonald said he did not know of any talks with those remaining.

Power to the encampment was cut off Monday, according to the Occupy Philadelphia Twitter feed.

The holdouts, McDonald said, need to "smarten up, grow up, and move to the place where Occupy Philadelphia has a permit to be."

He said construction at Dilworth was "imminent" - the first step would be erecting fencing around the plaza for demolition to begin.

"There's going to be a total remake of that tract," McDonald said, calling the new plaza "a significant space aside an iconic building."

"Philadelphians are going to love it," he said.