Poll: More New Yorkers Disapprove Of Mayor Bloomberg's Handling Of Occupy Wall Street
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is getting mixed marks on his handling of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
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A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 51 percent of New York City voters disapprove of the way he handled the protests. Forty-two percent approve.
Protesters got a better grade. The poll found 52 percent of voters approve of the way the protests were conducted while 43 percent disapprove.
The poll also found that 50 percent approve of the police department's conduct in dealing with the protesters while 46 percent disapprove.
Last month, police in riot gear cleared Zuccotti Park of protesters, arresting hundreds of people.
The poll questioned 1,242 registered voters between Dec. 7 and 12. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Meanwhile, nearly 200 people arrested during Occupy Wall Street-related protests were in New York courtrooms hundreds of miles apart Wednesday, answering charges that stemmed from a march on the Brooklyn Bridge and a demonstration in a Rochester park.
Most of the offenses are minor violations like disorderly conduct where a trial is uncommon and a plea results in a $75 fine.
But some protesters say they'll demand a trial when they're arraigned, potentially creating a major backlog in the court system.
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