Mayor Bloomberg yesterday endorsed a proposal made by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to have the Parks Department oversee all future public spaces that are privately owned.
“It’s a great idea,” said the mayor.
Quinn last week suggested that there be one set of rules for parks and other public spaces following the confusion over what was allowed and what wasn’t during the occupation of privately owned Zuccotti Park, which is open 24 hours a day. Most city parks shut by 1 a.m.
Like Quinn, Bloomberg rejected the idea of retroactively putting Zuccotti and more than 500 other similar privately owned public spaces under Parks Department control.
“It would be a nightmare [legally] to go back, I’m told,” Bloomberg said.