Wednesday's rain didn't drown out the spirit of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests, but it did cut the number of demonstrators in Zuccotti Park by about half, and tourists stayed away from the encampment.

Participants could be seen spreading tarps on the ground and using them as tents to try and stay dry.

"I have all my stuff stored away in dry places right now. I'm maintaining my dryness as good as possible," said one protester.

"Since police wont let the tents be here, that makes it a real challenge. It's like a little game, we have to do it with tarps," said another.

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement has been going on for over a month and, to date, has seen donations amount to $435,000.

As the cold weather approaches, protesters will use storage space in a Lower Manhattan building provided by the United Federation of Teachers for as long as they need.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said he is willing to help anyone who is furthering the same cause he promotes.

"We know the greatest difficulty we are facing as a society is income disparity. We see it in our city, we are the income disparity capital of the United States. And, you know, that's an issue that they are also on top of and we are going to continue that," said Mulgrew. "We've been saying that for a while and if people want to work with us on that, we're going to work with them."

Protesters are also using the space to store supplies, their own belongings and items donated to them by supporters.

The gathering has also gained the attention of local and national politicians, as well as celebrities, the latest being actor Alec Baldwin.

After announcing his interest in visiting Zuccotti Park on Twitter on Tuesday, Baldwin showed up early Wednesday morning. He said just hearing about the protests wasn't enough.

"I don't think they're going to be here forever and I might not have this chance again to see this experience. I just want to kind of see it myself you know intimately rather than read about it in the press," Baldwin said.

Other celebrities to visit with protesters include filmmaker Michael Moore, actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and music mogul Russell Simmons.

Meanwhile, a New York City Police Department commander who used pepper spray on protestors is being punished for breaking department rules.

Sources say Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna will lose 10 paid vacation days for violating the department's standards about pepper spray use.

Bologna can either accept the punishment or bring the issue to an administrative trial.

His actions were caught on video and posted on YouTube.

In a statement Tuesday, the president of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association said Bologna's actions "prevented further injury and escalation of tumultuous conduct," adding, "To date, this conduct has not been portrayed in its true context."