Do I have a right to Panda-free streets?

Over the weekend, 300 people showed up in Union Square for a "Pandamonium".  With some dressed as Pandas, there wasn't much point to the gathering "other than to wreak havoc," according to one of the participants.

After moving to Williamsburg, the group started getting rowdy.

"The participants were chanting, “Whose street? Our street!” and some began overturning newspaper boxes." - AMNY

Not surprisingly, my buddy "No Neck" Noel was in the middle of the action...

“Hundreds of people were out on the sidewalk, dancing, yelling, having a good time,” said Noel Hidalgo, a community activist who goes by the name No Neck and who witnessed the event. “Police were trying to control people and clear the streets and that’s when it got out of control.”

Noel, I hate to break it to you, but when 300 people go roaming the streets yelling and overturning newspaper boxes, that's about when I want the police to step in and "control people". 

What a lot of the people involved in these mass gatherings fail to realize is that they do infringe upon the rights of others.  You can't have hundreds of people randomly gathering in a single group like that without police presence...  because the chances of a riot are too great--unless you simply think all that mob mentality research is bunk.  This group didn't get out of control because of the cops--turning over newspaper boxes or anything that isn't yours, is out of control.  Chances are a wayward newsbox dented someone's car, or a sideview mirror or two got knocked off, too.  Stuff like that happens when 300 people roam the streets. 

Police presences cost money.  As a NYC taxpayer, I paid for this Panda caper.  Clogged streets cost money and they're dangerous, too.  What happens when ambulances get held up because of mass gatherings like this that clog streets with traffic?  I'd hate to have a heart attack on the Friday of the mass bike ride here in the city.

Do these folks think that EVERYONE in the surrounding neighborhoods thought the yelling Panda's were a good idea?  I'm sure a bunch of people didn't think it was so hot.  What about their rights?

How about a mass feeding of the homeless?  Or a mass graffiti cleanup?  For once, I'd like to see people do something more constructive with their energy than just prove they can "stand up" to authority.  Authority serves a purpose... it keeps your panda asses off my street and away from my car.  

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