Alderman to downtown street performers: Stifle yourselves

Nearly 20 years ago, Chicago street performers accused then-downtown Alderman Burton F. Natarus (42nd) of "urban cleansing" for spearheading another one of his infamous crackdowns to tone down their music.

They might soon be making the same complaint about current downtown Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd).

Reilly is once again trying to tighten the legislative noose on street musicians who drive downtown residents and employees to distraction by banging on plastic buckets all day or playing "The Flintstones" theme song in a continuous loop on the saxophone.

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Reilly introduced an ordinance that would turn long stretches of Michigan Avenue and State Street into "no-play zones," where street musicians are prohibited from giving any performance "audible to a person with normal hearing standing 20 feet away."

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