The city mayor's office said that the protesters should “temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps” but could return once the park was clear.

Occupy Wall Street was set up in September to protest against economic inequality and had been followed by dozens of protests around the world.

A camp in Oakland, California, was cleared overnight a day earlier.

The Occupy movement, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings and economic protest camps in Spain, is calling for a more equal distribution of wealth.

Organisers in the US say most of the country's money is held by the richest 1 percent of the population and that they represent the other 99 percent.

The New York action comes after police arrested 33 people in Oakland, California as they raided the protest camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza early on November 14.

The camp had been marred by recent outbreaks of violence in and around it, including a fatal shooting last week. However, camp residents had said the killing was unconnected to their protest.