Mifflin aftermath
The existing Public Health emergency order, which took effect April 7, removed capacity limits and a face mask requirement on outdoor gatherings, so long as people can maintain 6 feet of distance. But it was a requirement thousands of party-goers failed to follow at the Mifflin Street Block Party last weekend.
At a news conference Thursday, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway lambasted the event that’s been a perennial headache for mayoral administrations for decades but returned this year in the midst of a pandemic after a one-year hiatus.
“I just am consistently frustrated with the Mifflin Street Block Party,” she said. “I think it’s — particularly in a pandemic — just highly irresponsible of the folks that were hosting, that were allowing folks to come into their properties, their apartments. It’s just really disappointing to see such bad behavior.”
See how the annual Mifflin Street Block Party has changed in the decades since it began as a rallying point for the anti-war movement in Madison in the spring of 1969.
In response to criticism from some over how Madison police handled the block party, Rhodes-Conway said “what I saw was fairly consistent of the approach our Police Department takes,” adding police are pursuing action against multiple people for “bad behavior” with “probably more to come.”
“It’s important for us all to remember we are still in a pandemic,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Call me skeptical, but I doubt all the folks that were at Mifflin are vaccinated.”
