POUGHKEEPSIE - Several hundred “Occupy Poughkeepsie” protesters braced for eviction by police Thursday evening, bolstered by numerous sympathizers who rallied in solidarity.

They chanted, “This is what democracy looks like.”

The activists have been camped out in Hulme Park, at 72 Market Street, since October 15. On Thursday morning they had received written notice from City Administrator Michael Long, telling them Hulme Park closes daily between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“The City of Poughkeepsie certainly endorses and supports the right of public free speech; however, we just are asking for the organization to comply with the existing rules and regulations,” he told MidHudsonNews.com.

As of 2 a.m. Friday morning, however, no police action was taken. Many who had arrived from other towns – to observe and lend moral support – gradually went home as temperatures dropped below frost levels. A counter-protest of about a dozen individuals shouting “get a job” were first to depart, just after midnight.

Over half a dozen tents and makeshift shelters remained in the park – emptied of personal property in anticipation of mass arrests. Flimsy plywood barricades surrounded an enclosed fireplace, huddled by a core group of roughly 18, deliberating tactics and options.

The leaderless assembly used hand signals and democratic consensus to make decisions. Everybody within the inner circle claimed they were prepared to disobey and be arrested in determination to remain. “I plan on staying here as long as humanly possible,” said one activist.

People squatting inside Hulme Park consider themselves part of a worldwide reform movement based in downtown Manhattan, known as “Occupy Wall Street.” Participants crowd public spaces and sometimes perform civil disobedience to promulgate a general message of “haves” versus “have-nots,” frequently shouting “We are the 99%!”

One of the Refuseniks declared, “This makes a statement, this makes a stand, this serves a purpose.” He explained, “The corporate powers-that-be in this community – in this country as a whole – are corrupted at their own levels. They want their own agenda, their own needs; they have no interest in the masses. They sit on seats of inscrutable power, doing what they want, because they can, because they have the finances and resources.”

A bureaucratic loophole may keep protesters lawfully ensconced, despite municipal warnings to quit. The Code of Ordinances – cited in Long's notice of order – omits any closure hours for Hulme Park. However, police permits are required for large gatherings in city parks.