Michael Bloomberg: Occupy Wall Street “trying to destroy the jobs of working people”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday had some harsh words to say about the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place in his city, The Village Voice reports.

"Everyone's got a thing they want to protest, some of which is not realistic," Bloomberg said in his weekly radio appearance. "And if you focus for example on driving the banks out of New York City, you know those are our jobs … You can't have it both ways: If you want jobs you have to assist companies and give them confidence to go and hire people."

"The protests that are trying to destroy the jobs of working people in this city aren't productive," Bloomberg also said.

According to the Voice, Bloomberg criticized some of the labor unions who have backed and joined the protests by saying that "their salaries come from – are paid by – some of the people they're trying to vilify."

Bloomberg said the city would not force the demonstration to end.

"We are trying to deal with this is a way that doesn't make the problem grow and protects everybody's rights… we're trying to let this — not 'play out,' that isn't quite the right word, but let them express themselves," he said.

The Occupy Wall Street protests began in lower Manhattan several weeks ago, and have since spread to a number of other cities. The protesters say they are a leaderless movement representing "the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%," according to the OccupyWallSt.org website.