CITY HALL — The mayor said basically, "Thanks, but no thanks," to Guardian Angels patrolling what they've called "Muggers Mile."
"Michigan Avenue, police work every day to make that secure and safe," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday in a news conference after the City Council meeting.
He dismissed the Guardian Angels' distribution of flyers in the prime shopping area Tuesday and their references to it as "Muggers Mile."
"I think the Guardian Angels are interested in safety and security," Emanuel allowed when asked about their Michigan Avenue presence. "There's a lot of areas in the city where they can work in partnership" with police.
Those other areas, he emphasized, are more in need.
"There's gonna be a lot of safe-passage routes for kids," he said, referring to the longer distances students will have to walk in the fall in light of school closings. "Come work those."
Emanuel pointed to school routes and playgrounds beset by gun violence, adding, "Do something that's helpful with that effort, and I'm sure people will work with you on that on the community level."
Michigan Avenue has been hit by so-called wilding incidents, and one of the latest involved a suburban teenager.
