Lines of helmeted police, some on horseback, blocked every approach to the financial district in New York. Several streets in the area were closed.  The demonstrators chanted "Shut down wall street!' and carried signs, such as "Tax Wall Street" and "Why Wait for Permission to Claim Freedom? Occupy Your Mind."  Police said about 75 were arrested, including a woman in a wheelchair who was trying to block traffic. There was some minor scuffling as those arrested refused to walk and were carried away.  Protesters had to break into two groups as they encountered police at each intersection leading to the exchange. Broadway was closed because of snarling traffic.  Most New York Stock Exchange workers reported little difficulty getting into the building. Workers had to pass through checkpoints to reach the building on Broad Street, and trading began on time.  "It's business as usual," said Rich Adamonis, a spokesman for the exchange. He declined to comment on the demonstrators or their claims.  "I had no issues," said Doreen Mogavero, a stock exchange member who was on the floor when trading started as scheduled at 9:30 a.m. She arrived at work around 8:45.  "The police had a walkway cleared, I showed my ID and walked in," she said. "I didn't even see many demonstrators."  Earlier, some of the demonstrators had vowed to shut down the exchange, or delay its opening. Others said they merely wanted to "exchange stories instead of stocks."  "We're here to say that business as usual cannot continue," said Bert Ricchardi, who described himself as an unemployed carpenter from New Haven, Conn. "We want those people (in the financial services business) to see that and hear that."  It was the first of several planned events to mark the anniversary and came two days after police dismantled the protesters' camp at Zuccotti Park. Events planned around city included speeches and talks with commuters at subway stations.  Occupy spokesman Bill Dobbs said Thursday, "This day is about taking our ideas to every block, every street, every subway." Organizers said on the Occupy website there were no plans to disrupt subway service.  The day of action had been planned before the city and park owners cracked down on the encampment in Zuccotti Park, but took on added importance to the protesters after tents, tarps and sleeping bags were cleared out early Tuesday and the granite plaza was cleaned for the first time since the group arrived more than two months ago.  "This is a critical moment for the movement given what happened the other night," said Paul Knick, 44, a software engineer from Montclair, N.J. "It seems like there's a concerted effort to stop the movement and I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen."  Transit officials were preparing to deal with the crush of people. After the rally near the New York Stock Exchange, protesters planned to fan out across Manhattan before gathering downtown and marching over the Brooklyn bridge.  Similar protests were planned around the country.  In Dallas, police evicted dozens of protesters from their campsite near City Hall, citing public safety and hygiene issues. They arrested 18 protesters who refused to leave.  About 500 sympathizers of the Occupy protest marched in downtown Los Angeles. The protesters, chiefly a coalition of labor unions, gathered between the Bank of America tower and Wells Fargo Plaza, chanting "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out."  Protesters in Las Vegas vowed to pitch tents in front of a federal building.  In Albany, N.Y., protesters from Buffalo, Rochester and other encampments were coming in by bus to join a demonstration in a downtown park.  Police in Portland, Ore., closed a bridge in preparation for a march there.
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York and across the country held mass gatherings to mark the movement's two-month anniversary.