Some 800 Occupy Wall Street protesters began the new year by trying to retake Zuccotti Park last night, starting a massive clash with police in which one officer was stabbed in the hand with a pair of scissors.
A suspect was arrested in the 11:30 p.m. incident, according to a law enforcement source.
Hundreds in the crowd of occupiers then surrounded the ambulance as it tried to leave with the wounded officer, the source said.
The officer, who was not identified, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Shortly before midnight OWS protesters took to Twitter to proclaim their assault on Zuccotti — from which they were booted by cops in November.
“Barricades being torn down at liberty [Zuccotti] park,” they wrote. “Happy new years!!”
They later tweeted: “Big crowd at liberty square. We have taken back the park.”
Some 100 cops initially responded to the scene, including mounted police to maintain crowd control.
At one point, some of the protestors surrounded the circle of cops, before reinforcements were called in.
Police in riot gear started to attempt to clear the park at about 1:30 a.m. today.
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