I think it's as much an issue of them not wanting the world to see who their supporters really are

Leadership at Zuccotti Park

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, two of the most liberal pols on Earth, are urging Mayor Bloomberg to crack down on the Wall Street protest.

“Some of the protesters, and others who have opportunistically joined the crowd for unrelated reasons, have created serious quality-of-life concerns for residents,” said the pols, who represent the area.

They want enforcement of laws against “excessive noise” and “public urination” and are asking for “the excessive number of barricades” to be removed.

Welcome to the moment, guys.

No doubt, their fear of reprisal from constituents outweighed their ideological leanings -- not to mention their allegiance to labor groups co-opting the movement for their own selfish interests.

Gee, how’sthatfor irony: labor fueling a protest that’s spurring the loss of jobs.

Speaking of which, last Friday the Milk Street Cafe -- a Wall Street restaurant near the park -- fired 21 workers after business fell 30 percent thanks to the protest.

“It’s sad,” says owner Marc Epstein, who also owns a cafe in Boston and has never had to lay off workers. Now he’s looking at a shutdown of the Wall Street store.

What happened? “The barricades are ... a real deterrent for business,” he says.

His message to City Hall: “As a result of you guys making these decisions, a small business that just invested in your city is threatened, as well as all of the jobs here.”

And it goes beyond job losses; fact is, it’s driving the whole neighborhood bonkers -- with its endless, nerve-wracking drumming and a raft of health and safety issues.

OWSers (and the prospect of free food, drugs and sex) have lured all sorts of unsavory types, outright criminals included. Many clearly see the First Amendment as a license to break the law.

As we wondered yesterday, how long will protesters be allowed to punish the area?

“We’ve been working with the community on quality-of-life concerns caused by OWS protesters -- and we’re going to continue doing that, and continue monitoring the situation very closely,” a mayoral aide said yesterday.

Maybe City Hall will send someone down to monitor Epstein closing up shop.”

No one is a greater defender of free speech than we are.

But a compromise taking into account the rights of everybody involved would do no violence to the First Amendment.

What’s needed is leadership.

Silver and Nadler have stepped up.

Who’s next?