Anti-Wall St protest causing quality of life issues: officials

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Elected officials in Manhattan pressured New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday to deal with "quality of life" concerns raised by residents living near an anti-Wall Street protest encampment.

Four politicians from the Congress, the state legislature and the city council asked Bloomberg to enforce laws limiting drumming noise and to keep the protesters from urinating on streets and buildings in the area.

They said the Occupy Wall Street movement had created "quality of life concerns" for residents in the area, according to an October 31 letter from Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, Senator Daniel Squadron and Council Member Margaret Chin .

While the local community board and protesters have worked together to establish a "good neighbor policy," which is posted on walls around the privately-owned but publicly-accessible Zuccotti Park, the officials said it has been hard to enforce.

"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," they wrote.

"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," the officials said.

The Occupy Wall Street movement set up camp in the park in mid-September to demonstrate against a financial system they believe mostly benefits corporations and the wealthy, and similar protests against economic inequality have since sprouted across the nation.

The Zuccotti Park protesters cannot be removed unless the owner of the park, Brookfield Office Properties, officially complains to the city.

Tensions have risen in the park after the New York Fire Department took away six generators and fuel that had been powering heat, computers and a kitchen at the camp because they were considered a safety hazard. Bloomberg said this was not a bid to remove the protesters.

Noise has also increased with the growing numbers, especially from drummers beating away into the night, despite a deal between protesters and the local community to keep drumming to two-hour daytime slots.

Protesters, whose resolve was tested on Saturday by a rare October snowstorm, say they are upset over billions of dollars in bank bailouts doled out during the recession while average Americans have had little relief from high unemployment and job insecurity.

They also believe the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share in taxes.

(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Cynthia Johnston)