When in doubt, blame the hippies.
Uptown cops can’t beef up patrols in bullet-riddled Harlem because they’ve been redirected to Wall Street, a top cop allegedly told furious residents last week — even though mass Occupy Wall Street protests fizzled out two weeks ago.
Parents said several daytime shootings in East Harlem prompted an emergency meeting Thursday morning at Central Park East 1 elementary school.
They demanded to know why they haven’t seen more beat cops pounding the pavement — and said they received a puzzling answer from Deputy Inspector William Pla, the commander of East Harlem’s 23rd Precinct.
“He said more cops weren’t possible, ‘due to a lack of manpower because of police being diverted downtown to Occupy Wall Street,’ ” said Raven Snook, 40, whose 6-year-old attends an area school. “That was not a smart thing to say.”
Parents who had camped out in Zuccotti Park were even more galled, considering they were booted on Nov. 15.
“I was really annoyed that police would tell me that they are busy patrolling a peaceful protest instead of a gunshot-ridden area. That to me is shocking,” said Rivka Gewirtz Little, 41.