Mayor Mike Bloomberg was asked point-blank this morning by WOR radio host John Gambling if the Occupy Wall Street protesters would be permitted to stay down in Zuccotti Park for as long as the demonstration raged.
And he seemed to suggest that the protestors shouldn’t expect their lease to run-on indefinitely.
“We’ll see,” the mayor said. “People have a right to protest but we also have to make sure that people who don’t want to protest can go down the streets unmolested. We have to make sure that while you have a right to say what you want to say, people who want to say something very different have a right to say that as well. That’s what’s great about our country. The right to protest is part of our culture but it’s also true that there are other soceital concerns. You are worried about sanitation and there are lots of different laws on the books about what you can do.”
The mayor also didn’t sound much like one of those pols who have come around to the demonstrators concerns.
“The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. Those are the people that work on Wall Street or on the finance sector.”
“We always tend to blame the wrong people,” added Bloomberg. “We blame the banks–they were part of this, but so was Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and Congress and you and me. Everybody wanted the boom times.”
Follow David Freedlander via RSS.
“The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year
and are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “That’s the bottom
line. Those are the people that work on Wall Street or on the finance
sector.”
Um… sorry, no. By and large the people who work on Wall St and the finance sector make a lot more than $40-50k. Unless he’s talking about their yearly bonuses… in which case, a lot of them still make more than that.
Don’t make me laugh, Bloomberg.
Uluongo – I work on wall street and when you factor out the cost of living for NYC, I make about 40-50K. Everyone has this idea that the people who work on wall street make boatloads of money. $100-200K tops. I got news for you, 100K a year is 50K everywhere else in the world due to the cost of living.
“The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year
and are struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “That’s the bottom
line. Those are the people that work on Wall Street or on the finance
sector.”
Um… sorry, no. By and large the people who work on Wall St and the finance sector make a lot more than $40-50k. Unless he’s talking about their yearly bonuses… in which case, a lot of them still make more than that.
Don’t make me laugh, Bloomberg.
that is a lie Bloomberg, that is a lie.
carry on protestors.
Bloomberg, youre mad funny. they will not leave. we will keep supporting them. you lose. we win. bye bye/
No, Mayor Bloomberg, they are not protesting the clerks. Yes, they ARE protesting people like you.
What about those of us with college degrees, working in technical areas (also at a university) who only make 20k a year and are struggling to keep a rented roof over our heads?
A man who bought a third term doesn’t understand why people are mad that money has too much influence in politics. You’d almost think that was a headline in The Onion.
The protests aren’t against people who WORK on Wall Street, they’re against people who GAMBLE on Wall Street.
Bloomberg mistook gambling for real work. Common error.
The protests aren’t against people who WORK on Wall Street, they’re against people who GAMBLE on Wall Street.
Bloomberg mistook gambling for real work. Common error.
The protests aren’t against people who WORK on Wall Street, they’re against people who GAMBLE on Wall Street.
Bloomberg mistook gambling for real work. Common error.
40k a year? LOL. WOW, now I finally understand Bloomberg, uterly disconnected from reality, living in his ivory tower, chomping at the bit to help his Wall Street fraud buddies. Bloomberg must go, ASAP!
hahahahaha.
THESE POLITICIANS ARE SCARED. SCARED!
Dear Mayor Bloomberg…
You seem to be saying protest is okay… as though the people there are protesting for the sake of protest… No! From what I see…from where I see…this is a protest for the sake of long overdue justice…when will you and the object of our attention look at the absolute injustice (see the Declaration) and start doing something about it???…That’s a bit different…when will you folks get serious and acknowledge the fact that sleeping on cement is not our “privilege” It’s a painful alternative in the effort to be heard.
Mary Lou Pedersen
This can’t be good for tourism in NYC. Once it turns away tourist $..Bloomberg will have it shut down.