Rahm ups ante in Wrigley security battle with Cubs
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday upped the ante in his security battle with the Cubs, demanding that a team spending millions to build private clubs for season ticket holders invest in security around Wrigley Field.
One day after making six security demands of the Cubs, the mayor said he has summoned Cubs officials to a meeting to discuss improvements.
They include widening the sidewalks along Addison between Sheffield and Clark by “up to 4 feet to facilitate the installation of security barriers” and installing a “secure fence line between retail shops” and a new open- air plaza adjacent to the stadium that has become a huge attraction for fans.
The city has also accused the Cubs of failing to “immediately report a recent death” at Wrigley and demanded that the Chicago Police Department be notified of any “serious injury” on team property.
Emanuel made no mention of the Cubs’ longstanding and repeatedly rejected demand to close Addison and Clark on game days.
He didn’t have to. The city’s demands have put the mayor’s longtime nemesis, Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney, on the defensive instead of the other way around.
“The Cubs are investing in the skyboxes. It’s time now to invest in the security around your field. You have a new plaza. You need a new plan for security,” the mayor said.
“With all the type of development that’s happening, we need to have a comprehensive, thorough security plan and all the infrastructure investments along with that security plan to meet a new facility that you’ve invested in. If we’re gonna invest in skyboxes and the enhancements around skyboxes, we need to make sure that we have the enhancements around the security around Wrigley Field.”
Cubs spokesman Julian Green tried his best to put the city back on the defensive — by questioning why the Cubs should be held “responsible for securing the public way.”
“That is the role of the Police Department and all of the public agencies whose mission is to keep these venues safe, which we would expect in return for being the highest- taxed team in baseball,” he wrote in a text message to the Chicago Sun- Times.
The Cubs recently donated $ 1million to the city to install 30 new surveillance cameras around Wrigley that Emanuel now wants the team to integrate into the city’s vast network of 29,000 public and private cameras.