Bloomberg to Occupy Wall Street Journalists: Police Handled You Just Fine

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose multibillion dollar news organization did not sign the New York Times letter complaining about the treatment by the mayor's own army during the OWS protests defended those NYPD actions yesterday on his weekly radio show, according the Village Voice and other sources.

Bloomberg, according to the Voice, said, We didn't keep anybody from reporting, you just had to stand to the side...You don't have a right as a press person to stand in the way just in the interest of getting the story.

Bloomberg's police and his decisions as mayor were deeply criticized by The Society of Professional Journalists, among over a dozen other news outlets and organizations, for the heavy-handed tactics exercised on journalists trying to cover the movement. Congressman Jerrold Nadler has called for an investigation of police conduct, a point of view the mayor has beefed about.

Bloomberg, at a Brooklyn press conference, according to CapitalNewYork, suggested Nadler should focus on getting more money for the city.

Nadler angrily replied through an email from his office to the website, saying that despite his best efforts, his Republican colleagues in the House had been a major roadblock and suggesting that perhaps Bloomberg, should also have a heart-to-heart chat with the many congressional Republicans who he has actively supported, to urge them to stop starving the programs critical to our cities and to desist from further destroying the economy for the middle class.