Four Lower Manhattan elected officials authored a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg today, pleading that “quality of life” concerns from residents near Zuccotti Park be addressed.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver and Council Member Margaret Chin made it clear in the letter that they support the First Amendment rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters, but they say that some behavior, specifically excessive drumming and public urination on streets and buildings, has got to stop.
From the letter:
At the same time, some of the protesters, and others who have opportunistically joined the crowd for unrelated reasons, have created serious quality-of-life concerns for residents of the immediate area. Members of the OWS group have worked with Community Board One to establish a “Good Neighbor Policy” that addresses these issues. Despite everyone’s best efforts, this policy has proven difficult to enforce.
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. We also ask that the city work with residents and businesses to remove the excessive number of barricades, which are making movement within this area extremely difficult and inconvenient. It is important that these quality-of-life concerns are addressed in an effective and thoughtful manner by the city so that they do not keep recurring.
This letter comes after the same concerns have been routinely voiced by residents and officials. Last week, residents near Zuccotti Park complained to Chin’s office about hours of drumming over the weekend, despite a meeting with protesters just days before where community board members asked Occupy Wall Street to limit the noise to two hours per day.
