#OccupyWallStreet

Local Lawmakers Call for Crackdown at Occupy Wall Street

By David Freedlander 11/01/11 2:25pm

All four elected officials who represent the area around Zuccotti Park have written Mayor Mike Bloomberg asking him to enforce existing laws surrounding the Occupy Wall Street protests.

The lawmakers–Jerry Nadler on the federal level, Shelly Silver and Daniel Squadron in Albany, and Margaret Chin, the local City Councilmember– say they give their ”full support for the protesters’ First Amendment rights to speak and to assemble in Zuccotti Park. We sympathize with the movement’s message and we feel it is important that their voices be heard.”

But still, they note that right now the city seems to allow the protesters greater license than anyone else would have.

“Therefore, we are asking that the city enforce laws prohibiting the excessive noise from drumming, which has disturbed neighbors day and night, as well as those prohibiting public urination on our streets, buildings and sidewalks,” they write.

A spokesperson for Ms. Chin said that this didn’t necessarily mean that the lawmakers were calling for the NYPD to arrest those who break the laws, but rather to write tickets and to be more of a presence down there.

Democratic lawmakers who represent Lower Manhattan are in a spot as tricky as any pols, perhaps in the country.  Although they have largely expressed sympathy for the protesters’ message, it is also a constituent concern for them of the type it is for no other elected official.

Full letter from the lawmakers is below:

 

 

11 1 OWS Mayor DowntownElecteds

Follow David Freedlander via RSS.

topics: #OccupyWallStreet, Margaret Chin, dan squadron, jerry nadler, shelly silver
  • Webster

    Where is the editor? So many grammatical mistakes in this article! 

  • http://upperwestpress.wordpress.com Upper West Press

    It is interesting to note the absence of participation in this letter by Borough President Scott Stringer who helped craft the Good Neighbor Policy and who has actively participated in numerous meetings alongside many of the elected signatories to mitigate quality of life issues at Zuccoti

  • Barbara Paolucci

    The protestors, or what the rest of us area calling “The Flea Party”  has had more than enough time at Zuccotti Park, this needs to end, now!  And the organizers need to pay the tab, not New Yorkers – police presence (days, nights, overtime, benefits, pension and damages), clean up costs to private property as well as public, all harm done to local businesses such as lost business, businesses incurring extra costs for deliveries and such and shoplifting.  Permits they should have paid for and the costs assessed to other groups, such as the Tea Party when they assemble.  To date Bloombergistan is putting the bill on the backs  of New Yorkers and that’s not acceptable. 

    That these 4 pols write a letter that doesn’t make the case for assessing the organizers with bills for this as I’ve outlined above is outrageous!  They had better worry about not being re-elected.  We won’t forget this assault on New Yorkers.

    Off with their heads, starting with Bloomberg!

  • Barbara Paolucci

    The protestors, or what the rest of us area calling “The Flea Party”  has had more than enough time at Zuccotti Park, this needs to end, now!  And the organizers need to pay the tab, not New Yorkers – police presence (days, nights, overtime, benefits, pension and damages), clean up costs to private property as well as public, all harm done to local businesses such as lost business, businesses incurring extra costs for deliveries and such and shoplifting.  Permits they should have paid for and the costs assessed to other groups, such as the Tea Party when they assemble.  To date Bloombergistan is putting the bill on the backs  of New Yorkers and that’s not acceptable. 

    That these 4 pols write a letter that doesn’t make the case for assessing the organizers with bills for this as I’ve outlined above is outrageous!  They had better worry about not being re-elected.  We won’t forget this assault on New Yorkers.

    Off with their heads, starting with Bloomberg!

blog comments powered by Disqus