Many residents said they understood the decision but took issue with how Riley and others characterized their neighborhood as a lawless no-man's land unfit for children.
"The Mid-City area, with all of the blight and with the abandoned houses, makes it a lot harder to control what's going on," Riley said. "We certainly wouldn't want to see some kid getting pulled into some abandoned building."
Mid-City resident Michael Homan said he was particularly struck by the comments made by the Krewe of Iris Capt. Joy Oswald in 2006 about the possibility of parading in Mid-City.
"We will do anything not to go out there," Oswald said. "All my members are calling me very upset. They bring all their children up and they don't want them in that area. Their families will not go in that area. The area is dilapidated. It hasn't come back at all."
That appears to be more or less what Michael Bloomberg is telling the Occupy Wall Street protesters right now.
Protesters will have to clear out of the private Manhattan park where they've been camped out for nearly a month so the owners can clean it, but they'll be allowed to return afterward, city officials said. Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said in a statement Wednesday that the protest has "created unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park." He said Brookfield Properties asked for police help to clear Zuccotti Park so it can be cleaned.Yeah right. Or maybe they're just tired of paying police overtime. Either way it's a pretty lame excuse to try and get the protesters to disassemble.
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