NEW YORK—Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the Wall Street protests unproductive in his weekly radio address Friday.
“The protests that are trying to destroy the jobs of working people in this city aren’t productive,” he said. “They’re trying to take away the tax base we have, because none of this is good for tourism.”
Some of the complaints from the protesters are legitimate, said the mayor, but some aren’t. The salaries of municipal union workers are coming from the people they are trying to vilify, he noted, adding, “Those are our jobs.”
The protesters need to obey the laws and respect the rights of others, asserted Bloomberg.
One radio caller who lives in the area said there was a “general presence of incivility,” with protesters playing drums late at night and early in the morning.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly reported on Thursday that the city has spent in excess of $2 million in overtime to police the demonstrations and marches.
