The Freedom Tower

Resdents of lower Manhattan call them by various names and some people in New York have decided to clean up the streets around Ground Zero of these activists.

A story in the New York newspapers by Steve Cuozzo prompted heated debate over the removal of the vendors around the site. Cuozzo’s story said their presence was “Pure Obscenity.
“As a lower Manhattan resident living near Ground Zero for over 16 years,” writes Elizabeth Williams, “I completely agree with the removal of illegal and non-permitted vendors around Ground Zero and other areas
But Williams said the bigger issue is the $50 fine and community-service penalty imposed for illegal vending. She said the illegal vendors consider the fine to be the price of doing business. So, the laws have little deterrent effect. If the city commits to enforcing illegal-vendor laws that have minimal penalties and minimal effect, will it have enough resources elsewhere?”

An increase in the penalty might be the way to go. Now, if that’s really what residents want, I know a former mayor who is currently unemployed (a presidential dropout)
Michael Burke calls the vendors the 9/11 “truth lunatics but says there are bigger issues at stake at the downtown site. He says the memorial planned by Mayor Bloomberg, dedicated solely to our “healing,” will remake the site so that it does not acknowledge the attacks. “As per the handful of oblivious intellectuals and government appointees who dictated the concept, all history of 9/11 must be banished from the site “in order to preserve the integrity of the memorial. None of the authentic artifacts of 9/11 may be returned to the site. Who is the real lunatic?”

Very  good question Michael