Food fest called off due to Occupy Boston tent city ($2M police overtime tab?)

The sprawling Occupy Boston encampment in downtown has forced the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy to call off a food fest long planned for this weekend.

The “Greenway Mobile Food Fest” set for Saturday has been canceled and won’t be held until the spring, the conservancy announced today.

“Saturday’s event was to include 12 mobile food vendors, many of them in large trucks. It was to take place on Dewey Square, the only parcel large enough to accommodate this type of gathering,” the conservancy said today in a release.

The Occupy Boston tent city has taken over Dewey Square, with no end in sight of their protest encampment. An attempt annex another Conservancy plot of grass early Monday — over Boston police objections — resulted in the arrest of 142 protesters.

Tomorrow’s cookbook signing and next Tuesday’s Pumpkin Festival — both slated for Dewey Square — are also called off, according to the Boston Public Market Association.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday a few dozen agitators “from another country, another city” hijacked the protest resulting in the arrests.

“My message to them is, let’s continue to work together,” Menino said. “I’m not going to go out there and break heads. That’s not my style.”

The protests could prove to be a costly budget-buster as the belt-tightening Hub is staring down a potential $2 million police overtime tab if the ever-expanding shanty town remains through the end of the month, a top city official told the Herald today.

Boston Municipal Research Bureau president Sam Tyler fears the city could dig itself a massive financial hole should the protests linger for months.

“In terms of cost in a very tight budget ... you can’t just keep doing this forever,” Tyler said.

The Greenway Conservancy urged visitors to the Hub to not be turned away by the Occupy tents, adding: “While this half acre of the Greenway is in full-time use by Occupy Boston, the remaining 15.5 acres of the Greenway remain open, beautiful and welcoming to all.”

The Greenway Conservancy, which maintains Dewey Square, could be looking at its own staggering tab once the tent city is gone. It could cost as much as $125,000 to re-seed grass on the 25,000-square-foot plot of land, experts say.

That *Mayor* is a liberal stooge, who has wholeheartedly endorsed these freaks. Massoftwoshits is a lost cause, believe me, I grew up there, and thankfully moved out years ago. They welcome these idiots and with the overwhelming number of colleges in that state, you have an endless supply of numbskulls to constantly stir the pot.

It is time to go to "galts gulch" for all taxpayers. Quit contributing, collapse the system a different way. If you want to know how bad things are, begin asking everyone you know if they are getting food stamps. I did, and was shocked. Here is a partial list, names not included of course.

Those in my immediate family and friends. I have 5 daughters, married with children. The oldest, no govt support directly. The next four, ALL get food stamps, govt medical care, and receive in the neighborhood of $8,000 tax "refund" every year. Approximately 5 times the amount they have paid in. My nephew, an ex con going to school, while supplementing his life with drug sales and dealing in stolen goods, has food stamps and free medical. My step son, trying to unhook himself from the drug monkey, gets free dental, and food stamps, along with attempting to get on Social Security disability. My sisters daughter came home after living away for a few years, she immediately went to DSHS, and applied for food stamps and got them, and is living with her working parents. I hear stories of trading and selling these food cards, so they are not necessary to keep people from starvation. The time is long past for us "ANTS" to cut off the "GRASSHOPPERS".

We begin by demanding that these OWS people be arrested, and fined the equivalent of the cost to police and clean their area. We arrest them everyday they are bailed out and returned. Milk whomever is bailing them out, the people protesting, and do so under vagrancy laws, and the fact they have no permit to do what they are doing. This is a test, just like when students occupied colleges in the 60's. If we allow the govt to do nothing, we will find that the govts will give in to any and all demands. . . . . Rant over.

“My message to them is, let’s continue to work together,” Menino said. “I’m not going to go out there and break heads. That’s not my style.”

Way to go, Mumbles. You've just given in to the political terrorists, and ruined what was likely the LAST nice weekend you'd have for tourism in that area of Boston. Why not just tell the 'occupiers' that someone else had reserved that area, and that they HAVE to move; helping them, if necessary. Move them to a vacant lot somewhere. They have the right to protest, but they DON'T have the right to disrupt commerce, and force others to see or hear them.

This is a test, just like when students occupied colleges in the 60's. If we allow the govt to do nothing, we will find that the govts will give in to any and all demands. . . .

Exactly! Those occupations of college presidents' offices in the 60s were the genesis of all these protests. The kids found out that they could 'mau-mau' the administrators, so they kept on doing it, expanding to other locations, and demanding more each time. It's time to stand up to them, but I fear there are no 'adults' in these cities who are willing to take the heat that would be brought down on them.

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