About 400 Occupy Wall Street protesters on Friday delivered thousands of letters of complaint to offices of banks they accuse of corporate greed.

Shouting, "You've got mail!" the protesters handed over armloads of letters from Americans worried about the economy, struggling to pay mortgages or swamped with credit card debt. They read other letters aloud as employees at Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and other firms watched from the windows of their offices.

"We're hoping the banks will see the damage they've wrought," said protester Harry Waisbren, of Milwaukee.

Two groups of protesters marched through midtown Manhattan with boxes of messages that were collected through a website, occupytheboardroom.org, and then printed out. One protester was dressed like a drum majorette. Four others were costumed as pirates; they rode bicycles decorated like pirate ships, complete with anchors, masts and pirate flags.

"Aargh! We're the people's pirates, and we're going to get the money from the corporate pirates and give it to the credit unions and the good banks!" shouted Barbara Ross, wearing a frilly dress and a tri-cornered hat and waving a plastic sword.

Ross, of New York, said she was laid off last year from her job as a personnel manager at a telecommunications company.

Richard Kershenbaum, a retired information technology manager from Lawrence, Kan., said he decided to join the march while visiting friends in New York. He said he had seen workers' rights eroded during his time as a manager at the University of Kansas and was worried that politicians were increasingly influenced by corporate interests.

"They're running the government for their own benefit, not the benefit of the people," he said. "We have to do something about it if we want to protect democracy in this country."

The marchers stopped at a Citigroup office on Park Avenue and gave some of the letters to an employee. Marchers folded other letters into paper airplanes and tossed them at a Citibank sign out front.

Citigroup said it planned to read the letters.

"We are committed to maintaining an open dialogue with our customers and the communities we serve. We will carefully review the letters and follow up with our customers as needed," the company said in a written statement.

Outside an office of JP Morgan Chase on Park Avenue, several protesters read their letters aloud. The crowd repeated each line of the letter so that everyone could hear.

Nicholas Cullen, of Rockaway, N.J., said his mother had paid her mortgage faithfully for 30 years until losing her job when the school where she taught closed in 2007. He said she has health problems and has started missing payments. He said the bank had lost her application for a mortgage modification five times.

"This is un-American!" he shouted at workers watching from the windows.

"THIS IS UN-AMERICAN!" the crowd echoed.

JPMorgan Chase spokesman Tom Kelly could not immediately confirm the circumstances regarding Cullen's mother. He said the company had no comment on the protests.

Security guards at the Chase building collected armfuls of letters from protesters and carried them into the lobby.

Wells Fargo said it welcomed the feedback from Americans.

"We recognize Americans are demanding more from their financial institutions during these difficult economic times," spokesman Kevin Friedlander said. "Wells Fargo is committed to serving the financial needs of businesses and individuals, keeping credit flowing and working to help those in financial distress find solutions."

One letter from LaShuna Garcia, in the Tucson, Ariz., area, told how her parents lost their jobs through downsizing and budget cuts.

"Savings are difficult to accrue when the ends don't even come close to meeting," Garcia's letter said. "Please help keep the American people alive."

Jeremy Wattles, in the Geneva, N.Y., area, wrote that he was concerned about a U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing the free speech rights of corporations, which many protesters say has encouraged campaign donations by corporations and eroded the influence of regular voters.

"Corporations ought not be equal with a person under the law," Wattles wrote. "There ought to be a way for us to coexist financially. For you to make a profit and for responsible citizens to have a fair opportunity to achieve a middle class lifestyle."

Reaction was mixed from passers-by.

Jason Patel, an analyst at a bank, said he sympathized with the protesters but said they should be directing their anger at lawmakers. He said reforms are needed to ensure banks pay interest on bailout money loaned to them by taxpayers.

"This is fantastic, but I think there's a better way," he said as he watched the protest. "I think it would help if they went to Washington. Those are the people to talk to."

Earlier Friday, authorities said safety hazards at the protest encampment in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park were removed during a fire department inspection. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said protesters voluntarily surrendered six generators and a dozen gasoline cans, which he called illegal safety hazards.

Protest volunteer Iana Dikidjiea said the generators were used for a kitchen, emergency lights and media equipment.

The protesters were "rethinking how that's going to work," she said, but "we'll deal with it."

Many of the protesters were still sleeping when the inspection began around 8 a.m.

Bloomberg, speaking on his weekly show on WOR Radio, said the protesters can stay as long as they obey the law. But he added: "Quality of life is something that we worry about."

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Associated Press writers Meghan Barr and Samantha Gross contributed to this report.