“Protecting public safety and quality of life for downtown residents, and guaranteeing free expression are not exclusive of one another," de Blasio, who's a likely 2013 mayoral candidate, said. "Mayor Bloomberg made a needlessly provocative and legally questionable decision to clear Zuccotti Park in the dead of night. That some media and observers were prevented from monitoring the action is deeply troubling."

De Blasio has been riding the Occupy bandwagon for some time. After offering guarded approval early on, the public advocate defended protesters against an earlier attempt to evict them, then joined them in protests against Walmart and an 11-mile march from Washington Heights. Two weeks ago, he called the mayor's handling of the protests "schizophrenic". Last week, he made a guest appearance at the park on Teamster president Greg Floyd's radio show.