Oprah's Party Makes Some Cranky

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 4, 2009 4:40PM

When it was announced that Oprah would be shutting down a portion of Michigan Ave (between Ohio and Wacker) to shoot her 24th season premiere, we heard from many people not too happy about the move. And now at least one city official is getting cranky about the closure. Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Allen (38th Ward) told the Sun-Times, "Two-and-a-half days is kind of reckless. It smacks of elitism. The citizens own the street. Maybe they should ask the people how they feel." There's also some argument as to whether or not Oprah's folks were required to follow the usual protocol of giving 45 days notice to Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) who says they gave him 10 days notice. But Special Events spokeswoman Cindy Gatziolis told the Sun-Times this isn't classified as a "special event" and therefore didn't require 45 days: "This falls under the category of film and TV production. Those require a two-day notice. This has been much more than a two-day notice."