Droves of protesters filled the streets of Manhattan's Financial District Monday, marking the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police stopped the activists from making it to the New York Stock Exchange, which they threatened to surround.

The crowds were smaller than the hordes of the "99 percent" that sparked off-shoot Occupy movements across the globe, after taking to Wall Street last year and occupying Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The New York Police Department made less than a dozen arrests this morning, according to Reuters.

Protesters echoed the concerns the grassroots movement shed light on last year, touting signs condemning corporate greed and economic inequality, while chanting, "All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street" and "We got sold out, banks got bailed out."

The original protests, which rekindled a dormant sense of activism within the U.S., ran out of steam when police offers clad in riot gear evicted activists from Zuccotti Park the night of Nov. 15, 2011. 

Protesters can no longer bring sleeping bags or tents into the park due to new regulations.

Organizers told the L.A. Times they plan to rally all day; protests are expected to spread across 30 cities worldwide.

Related stories:

Why Occupy Fizzled - The Daily Beast

Occupy Wall Street Anniversary: Live Updates - The Huffington Post

10 Eyewitness Videos Of The YouTube Era That Changed The World - LinkTV World News

Reach Senior News Editor Sarah Parvini here; follow her on Twitter.