Police cleared out protesters camped out at a park in New York City’s financial district early Tuesday after the private company that owns it enlisted the help of authorities to do so.

By Tuesday morning, the area was completely bare and police in riot gear used barricades to slow the flow of pedestrians near Zucotti Park, which is adjacent to the former World Trade Center site. Some protesters remained in the area chanting.

For nearly two months, the group known as Occupy Wall Street had been encamped in the area, setting up a tent city within the city block that contains the park.

Mayork Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday in a statement that around 1 a.m., the owners notified protesters they had to immediately remove tents, sleeping bags and other belongings and had to comply with the park rules if they wished to continue to use it to protest.

“Many protesters peacefully complied and left,” he said.

Bloomberg said he and the park’s owner had become concerned that the park posed a health and fire safety hazard to the protesters and surrounding community.

He said Brookfield Properties requested that the city enforced the no sleeping and camping rules in the park.

“But make no mistake – the final decision to act was mine,” he said.