Election Section

Election News Elsewhere: New York Times Takes Up Sitting Ban

Saturday October 20, 2012 - 08:29:00 AM

There was a pretty good piece in the New York Times about attempts around the country to ban homeless people from city streets. Berkeley's Measure S was prominently featured, but there was a small but significant error in the story:

"The City Council and mayor have put a measure on the November ballot that would ban sitting and lying on commercial sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the risk of a $75 citation." [emphasis added].

A major complaint of the Anti-S camp is that almost everything anyone could object to is already banned, including lying down, so Measure S is just a superfluous slap at the down-and-out. We've reported the error to the Times--let's see if they post a correction.