But there is a crackdown on street furniture and a lot of other things that make streets more livable and enjoyable – which is the real story.

Businesses have been getting threatening letters and summonses from the city for things like having benches and planters on the street (North 6th Street), etc. (and, yes, even for operating sidewalk cafes before noon on Sunday).

P.S. – kudos to Brownstoner for doing some actual level-headed reporting on the overblown war metaphors.