Quinn's Mealy Mouthed Endorsement of Free Speech

I was a little disappointed by Council Speaker Christine Quinn's statement about the NYPD's ongoing attack on free speech (the subject of that little yellow banner on the upper right of this blog):

The New York City Police Department's proposed regulations for when and what activities will require parade permits are a substantial improvement over regulations proposed earlier.
...
New York City is a symbol of creativity and free expression for people around the world. It is difficult to balance the protection of civil liberties with the need for public order. We believe that the newly proposed rules have struck a better balance. We hope that the Police Department will carefully consider all the comments that they receive from individuals and groups during this public comment period. We hope too that the Police Department will be open to additional suggestions of ways to better balance the competing interests at stake.

This is from someone who was the executive director of a major grassroots activist group. I guess she has to be balanced and inoffensive in order to get the job done, but I'd have liked a stronger articulation of how fundamental the right to free assembly is.