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February 08, 2006
Bye bye busking bucket boys
More news from Chicago, this time good news. One of the biggest annoyances of living along the Mag Mile, aside from the cars that tried to run me down on several occasions, were the south-side boys who drummed on buckets across the street. (In my building, a call to security was enough to get them booted, but nearby building owners were more accomodating.) The noise was ear-splitting on the ground and could be heard even where I lived, some 875 feet above Michigan Ave. Giant crowds of bumbling tourists would form around the buskers, forcing passers-by to fend for themselves against the busses and the cabs on the street.
Chicago's city council took the meek step today of banning buskers and other street performers along a four-block stretch of Michigan Ave, which will simply force them onto the narrower sidewalks adjacent to that four-block stretch. From the Trib:
"Bucket boys" who beat on makeshift drums, same-song saxophonists who blast their horns and even mimes who, by definition, don't make a sound will be banned from a stretch of tony North Michigan Avenue under an ordinance passed Wednesday by the City Council.Some aldermen contended that quality of life and safety concerns dictated the need for the street performer prohibition, which passed by a 42-4 vote. Opponents insisted that the entertainers help create a festive atmosphere on the Magnificent Mile.
...
The ban applies to the stretch of Michigan between Delaware Place and Superior Street. Performers also will be barred from the area around Millennium Park, at Michigan and Randolph Street, but only when concerts are in progress in the Pritzker Pavilion.
Violators will face fines of up to $500 and, for three violations in a year, 12-month suspensions of their street performer licenses.
Ald. Burton Natarus (42d), who represents the area, said that high-rise residents suffer the effects of "excruciating noise," amplified by the canyons created by the towers.
"They work hard all week, and they come home and they have the right to enjoy the peace and quiet of their apartment," the alderman said.
It's a nice start, but I doubt that it'll solve the problem.
Posted by adrianjo at February 8, 2006 10:57 PM