Bloomberg strikes tougher tone on Occupy Wall Street

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: NY Daily News

Mayor Bloomberg struck a tougher tone with the Occupy Wall Street protestors Wednesday - and said the city might be forced to "take actions" at Zuccotti Park.

Bloomberg said the city must listen to the residents and business owners near the protest site who are starting to loudly complain about the demonstrators.

"This isn't an occupation of Wall Street," Bloomberg told reporters. "It's an occupation of a growing, vibrant residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan and it's really hurting small businesses and families."

Bloomberg's harsh assessment came a day after he received a letter from Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and other local lawmakers demanding City Hall to crack down on quality-of-life violations at Zuccotti Park.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bloomberg-strikes-tougher-tone-occupy-wall-street-article-1.971097

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Oh shut your piehole, Bloomberg. You can't do a thing about this. And if you try...

everyone will know. Nothing will be secret, or hidden anymore.

[SpankMe]

2. Quality-of-life violations at Zuccotti park?

How about the quality of life of the millions of people who got fucked by the assholes that OWS are protesting?

Improve the quality of life of the 99% and THEN we'll talk about the quality of life on Wall Street.

[PETRUS]

5. +1

[leveymg]

9. +1 - Wall St. crimes are a quality-of-life violation for 99% of Americans.

Bite me, Bloomberg.

[meow2u3]

18. Quality of life violation = oppression of the poor

I love your comeback!

[Plucketeer]

21. I like the last line of your post.

But I might change it to: "Improve the quality of the 99%, and THEN we'll talk about the quality of life for the ONE PERCENT!"

[leveymg]

3. Ok - Mayor Mike, let them move out of the park into the streets immediately around the NYSE.

No more problems with the "growing, vibrant residential neighborhood" near Zuccotti.

Problems solved.

P.S. - Shame on Cong. Nadler - if Bloomberg's statement is true, that's not the expression of a progressive friend.

[monmouth]

4. If I were a resident of the neighborhood I'd be raising hell too. Sorry,

but residents pay big bucks to live there, rents, taxes, etc. The drums beating 24/7, the urinating and whatever else in their neighborhoods, the homeless moving in... One business has had to let employees go and will probably close down. Bloomberg's assessment is spot on. They are residents in his town, he owes them too.

[Name removed]

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[Arctic Dave]

8. That sound exactly like what I read about the landing at Normandy.

Allied troops, stop trying to liberate us! Your bombs and guns are too loud and we earn a pretty good amount of Marks from the Germans.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. Your information is not accurate

There is a committee devoted to working with the community board (basically the neighborhood assoc for the residents in the area) and the drumming is down to either 2 or 4 hours a day. Granted, this is an area of contention and controversy for a variety of reasons..

The community board is otherwise very supportive of the occupation and has said so publicly. I assure you, the NY Daily News will not be reporting about that.

This is Manhattan. There were already homeless people there. There were already people urinating in alleys. Zuccotti Park is a hell of a lot cleaner than almost anywhere else in Manhattan, even in the fancy uptown neighborhoods.

The cops are deliberately directing potential disruptors and troublemakers there (eg people being released from jail are being told they can eat and sleep there).

I don't know about this business you refer to that will 'probably close down', I'd love to see a link and DIRECT EVIDENCE that it is related to OWS rather than this terrible economy caused by Wall Street that is causing small businesses to close all over the country.

I can tell you first hand that many of the small restaurants, pharmacies, shops and food carts are doing a banging business thanks to the Occupation.

Bloomberg can take his assessment, guided by his bazillions of dollars and love for Wall Street, and go fuck himself. If anyone has an anti-community agenda, it is him.

[redgiant]

11. Agreed. The anti-OWS are...

...characterizing the protesters as self-indulgent ideologues. The ease with which the rights of the portion of the 99 who are adversely affected or who don't support the tactics are dismissed seems to support that notion.

There's an old saying, "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins." Meaning, of course, that the proper exercise of rights shouldn't conflict with the proper exercise of the rights of others.

The "Shut up, I'm protesting on your behalf against a common evil" is logically flawed and elitist.

[Name removed]

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[Bluenorthwest]

13. He's full of crap.

I am interested in your contention that NYC did not have homeless people until they 'moved in' at OWS. I find that to be laughable. I'd say the extreme homelessness in NYC is a failing on the part of the City and the Mayor, a shame on Manhattan.
My favorite part is the attempt to pain this as a residential neighborhood. Zucotti Park is surrounded by financial company buildings and is a block from WTC. Not exactly a cozy quiet place for the kids to romp in meadows....

[msongs]

14. oh those poor homeless people. they should just "get a job and their own mansion" right? nt

[shraby]

16. What's giving the businesses there problems are the

barricades the police have put in place from what I read.

[SammyWinstonJack]

28. That's correct and the businesses have said as much. I just read that the barricades have been

removed. :thumbsup:

[county worker]

31. So is there no middle way? Do the complaints make a good excuse to put an end to OWS?

I don't think it is as black and white as you present. It could be that some neighbors are in sympathy and they are not talked about.

It is a too important thing that the occupy movement grows. The country will be in worse shape if nothing is done about the inequity.

You think a little occupy in a park is uncomfortable, wait until there is a riot! I don't know if you are as old as I and can remember the riots in the cities of this country in the 60's. I am willing to bet you that indifference to the OWS movement will result in the same kind of property destruction because the fringe is just waiting for a moment and a reason to move.

There comes a point when people have nothing left to protect, nothing left but to take out their frustrations on what ever target is convenient.

I would hope you could see a different way than a blind support of the authorities.

Now mind you I am not saying that OWS will turn violent. In the 60's the nonviolent groups stayed non violent but other groups formed around them with violence as their means to their ends.

[TomClash]

36. I'm there 10 hrs a day

Your take is mostly bullshit.

[Kingofalldems]

7. Unrec again

Mock and undermine.

[SoapBox]

12. Oh ya...the 1% and their puppet Police Militia Departments, have had enough.

...it will start to roll larger...the shut down of OWS by the 1%er's that is...

OWS needs to now grow and develop. If America thought that the TeaBagger movement
was something big, just wait until the OWS/99% Party gets going!!!!!!!

Our most powerful tool?

VOTING! And helping those that are going to be shut out of the voting system (illegally, thank you), VOTE.

Come on 99%er's!!!!!

[bongbong]

15. Small Business?

He's defining "small business" as a hedge fund or brokerage that made less than $500,000,000 in profits last year.

[Iliyah]

17. Small busninesses

are probably making good money from this. Bloomberg is a typical goper.

[Beavker]

20. I'm guessing not every OWS protester is completely broke.

Unless your a diamond merchant, you could probably sell a shit load of coffee, donuts or sandwiches...

Homeless people moving in? Oh no. Many have mental illnesses unfortunately, but many are in the same boat as the OWS folks aren't they? Maybe if this country looked after it's people...ALL of it's people, you wouldn't have as many homeless.

[Beavker]

19. I'm reluctant to listen to Bloomberg.

Politician. Rich. Not really going to see eye to eye with everyone else.

Who's hurting small businesses and families Mayor Bloomberg? Crack down on those people jack ball.

[closeupready]

25. Yes, even setting aside the fact that he's a Republican.

nt

[Plucketeer]

22. Proceed at your OWN political peril

Mr. Mayor. These folks (of which I count myself as one) aren't going to be dissuaded in their fervor or spirits.

[closeupready]

23. And the real Bloomberg begins to shed his coccoon.

Though I don't think it's a pretty butterfly we are going to see.

[Cal Carpenter]

26. Wonder if 'tougher tone' means next time real bullets instead of rubber

Bloomberg=Asshole

[meow2u3]

27. Real bullets instead of rubber ones mean one thing

Bloomberg = murderer!

[Thav]

30. Maybe he should consult the former Egyptian president on how violent crackdowns

to relatively peaceful demonstrations turn out.

[Zorra]

29. Manhattan

Manhattan is home to some of the nation's most valuable real estate, and has a reputation as one of the most expensive areas in the United States.<149>
Offices along Sixth Avenue

Manhattan is the economic engine of New York City, with its 2.3 million workers drawn from the entire New York metropolitan area accounting for almost two-thirds of all jobs in New York City.<150> Manhattan's daytime population swells to 2.87 million, with commuters adding a net 1.34 million people to the population. This commuter influx of 1.46 million workers coming into Manhattan was the largest of any other county or city in the country, and was more than triple the 480,000 commuters who headed into second-ranked Washington, D.C.<151><152>

Its most important economic sector is the finance industry, whose 280,000 workers earned more than half of all the wages paid in the borough. The securities industry, best known by its center in Wall Street, forms the largest segment of the city's financial sector, accounting for over 50% of the financial services employment. Before the financial crisis of 2008, the five largest securities-trading firms in the U.S. had their headquarters in Manhattan.<153><154>

In 2006, those in the Manhattan financial industry earned an average weekly pay of about $8,300 (including bonuses), while the average weekly pay for all industries was about $2,500. This was the highest in the country's 325 largest counties, and the salary growth of 8% was the highest among the ten largest counties. Pay in the borough was 85% higher than the $784 pay earned weekly nationwide and nearly double the amount earned by workers in the outer boroughs. The health care sector represents about 11% of the borough's jobs and 4% of total compensation, with workers taking home about $900 per week.<155>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan#Housing

[RoccoR5955]

32. Bloomberg must want to start a riot.

If he follows through with this threat.
Funny, Shel Silver was condoning the occupiers in Albany. I wonder if this is not some lies printed by the News, to entice their readership. After all, anyone with a brain in NYC reads the Times for news. The Daily News is for sports, gossip and pictures. Always was, probably always will be.

[Freddie Stubbs]

37. Silver can sue the Daily news for libel

[workinclasszero]

33. The whole world is watching Bloomberg

Doesn't matter if your police riot happens in the dead of night like you gestapo types favor or at noon.

It will be seen around the world in an instant!

Go ahead and show the world the quality of free speech and assembly and right to protest we have here in NYC.

Right down in the heart of darkness known as Wall Street.

When you do the Occupy movement will explode in growth and they will be back!

Count on that!

[sarcasmo]

34. Shut your cakehole you rich 1% fuck, the proles are raging and you can't stop it.

[TomClash]

35. I work a block away

It is a slight inconvenience at worst. Few small business people are complaining. None on my floor are.

Like Modell's on Broadway is complaining about the huge increase in purchases. Yeah, right.