I’ll link you to a place where I addressed this earlier. It’s my best thoughts on it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3332862/posts?page=125#125
The little I know about NY, many people travel by taxi and private limo services co blocking the area between the street and the door is obstruction as much as blocking the sidewalk from right to left.
Agreed that the better bet would have been to have the police handle it but under Deblasio, who knows?