NY Times defends UFPJ right to protest on the eve of theRepublican Convention

["UFPJ Alerts" <listmaster@unitedforpeace.org>]

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
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August 29!  Mark your calendars and join us in New York City for a massive
demonstration when we say NO to the Bush administration's empire-building
and war-making agenda, NO to their domestic and foreign policies. United
for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is organizing a not-to-be-missed protest for
Sunday, August 29th, a curtain raiser for the Republican National
Convention which begins the following day.

We want you to know about an important development in the preparations for
this protest. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Parks Department have
refused our application for a permit to rally on the Great Lawn in Central
Park, the sight of huge political, cultural and religious events in the
past.

We urge you to place a call to the mayor of NYC to protest the city's
outrageous denial of our right to rally in the single best location for
this event. For the second time in a little over a year, George W. Bush's
buddy NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has moved to block a major anti-war,
social justice demonstration: remember Feb. 15th, 2003!

UFPJ has launched a campaign to get Bloomberg to change his mind. Just
today, the NY Times lead editorial supports our right to rally on the Great
Lawn, and in the past week the NY Post and El Diario, two of NYC's major
dailies, also lent their editorial support. All three of these editorials
are below.

Now we need you, people from every corner of the country, to flood the
offices of the Mayor of NYC and the Parks Commissioner with phone calls and
faxes.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg:
phone   212-788-3000
fax   212-788-9711

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe:
phone   212-360-1305
fax   212-360-1345

If the lines are busy please keep trying!

It is important to note that our request for the Great Lawn is part of our
overall plan for the demonstration. We have applied to the NYC Police
Department for a permit to march. We will assemble south of Madison Square
Garden and take a route going directly past The Garden, where the
Republican Convention convenes the next day. Our march route is a straight
line up 8th Avenue and its continuation, Central Park West, before going
into Central Park. The process of securing the permit for the march is also
far from complete and we anticipate a struggle on this issue as well.

The plan for the August 29th demonstration was designed to enable large
numbers of people to participate: it is the safest, easiest, most logical
plan for this demonstration. One reason cited in the letter denying us
permission to rally on the Great Lawn was that such a large crowd would
cause "enormous damage" to the lawn.

We need to be very clear: this decision is not about how many people can
fit on the Great Lawn. This is about politics and about everyone's right to
protest.

Be sure to check our web site for updates on this struggle to secure our
right to protest in NYC, as well as information about the full range of
protest, cultural and educational activities while the Republican Party
meets in New York: http://www.unitedforpeace.org

Finally, we need your financial support to help ensure the success of our
efforts and for the organizing of the August 29th march and rally. Click
here to make your on-line donation:  http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate
Thank you in advance for your generous contributions.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EDITORIALS IN SUPPORT OF UFPJ's RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE ON THE GREAT LAWN

New York Times [New York, NY]
May 11, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/opinion/11TUE1.html

Lawn vs. Demonstrators

Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbied hard to attract the Republican convention to
New York this summer. Now it's coming, and with it swarms of protesters. The
city is obliged to offer hospitality to both the conventioneers and the
demonstrators. A group opposed to the Bush administration's policies has
applied to hold a march and a rally in Central Park, but the city has turned
down the request without offering a reasonable alternative site. The city's
position shows a lack of respect for the First Amendment, and is an
invitation to disorder.

The group, United for Peace and Justice, applied last June for permits for a
march and a rally of 250,000 people on the Great Lawn in Central Park. The
group says the Great Lawn is one of the few places in Manhattan that can
accommodate a rally this big. In the past, it has been the site of numerous
large protests, concerts and other events, including a 1982 antinuclear
rally attended by 700,000 people.

But since then, the Parks Department has invested millions of dollars in
replanting and landscaping the Great Lawn, including an elaborate
underground irrigation system. The city claims that the area is no longer
appropriate for very large events, and it is directing the protesters to
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens instead of Central Park, or to a
circuitous route through the streets of the far West Side.

Neither option is acceptable. City Hall may want to declare Manhattan to be
a no-free-speech zone for convention week, but critics have a right to
gather in the same borough as the conventioneers they are protesting. Making
a parade route available in Manhattan is not enough. The demonstrators have
a right to a central rallying place in which they can speak and be heard.
Depriving them of that would also present a far greater threat of
spontaneous protests the police might not be able to control.

The city has not allowed events with hundreds of thousands of people on the
Great Lawn since it was rebuilt in 1996, though it has given permits for
ticketed events sponsored by large corporations. The carefully protected
lawn is now lush and beautifully landscaped, but at a cost. Allowing the
exercise of free speech is just as much a key function of the city's parks
as allowing softball or in-line skating.

The Parks Department's dismay at the possible destruction of the grass and
shrubbery is understandable. But if the mayor wants to protect the greenery,
he is obligated to find an equally good place for the demonstrations. In
this era of highly scripted conventions, the protests outside the convention
hall may offer the most authentic political discourse of the week. When the
nation watches what happens in New York during the convention, we want
everyone to fully appreciate the glories of the city, and the way it has
come back from the disaster of 9/11. But viewers also need to see a New York
that is and always has been a place in which political expression is valued
and protected.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

New York Post [New York, NY]
April 30, 2004

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/19853.htm

EDITORIAL

LEFTIES ON THE LAWN

A gaggle of lefty agitators wants to convene in Central Park this summer to
give President Bush a little grief. But the Parks Department says no,
because they might bend the grass.

Well, too bad about that. "Keep Off The Grass" appears nowhere in the First
Amendment.

United for Peace and Justice applied for a rally permit for the park's Great
Lawn for Aug. 29, the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

The Parks folks said no on Wednesday, citing possible damage to the lawn.

And, sure - it is a great lawn.

But it happens to belong to the people of New York City.

If it were in Boston, it would be called the Common - a space set aside by
law and tradition for the vigorous expression of political opinion.

And if the lawn is harshly used, the solution seems clear enough: Plant a
new lawn. Grass seed is cheap.

We hold no brief for the views of United for Peace and Justice; indeed, the
War on Terror is meant precisely to secure peace and justice for Iraqis - as
well as guarantee for Americans the right to demonstrate peacefully in
public.

No matter what some groundskeeper-cum-bureaucrat in City Hall thinks.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

El Diario [New York, NY]
May 3, 2004

http://www.eldiariony.com/noticias/detail.aspx?section=25&desc=Editorial&id=
891296

EDITORIAL

The right to protest (with a permit)

The New York City Police Department has announced that groups that want to
demonstrate during the Republican National Convention this summer must
submit their applications for permits by Tuesday, June 15. That`s 11 weeks
before the convention kicks off.

So much for spontaneity. Some organizations are bigger and more organized
than others. Already there are groups complaining about a process that
requires grassroots organizations to commit themselves to the type of
protest they want to hold and where. After all, the U.S. Constitution
guarantees ``the right of the people to peaceably assemble." Nowhere does it
say we have to give three-months notice.

There are also concerns that forcing groups to apply this early allows the
city government to pick and choose which groups are approved and which are
not. Already one group, United for Peace and Justice, has been denied a
permit to hold an anti-war rally in Central Park. The organizers were told
that the 250,000 people who were expected for the rally would do too much
damage to the park, a curious explanation since events that draw that many
people or more are common in this famous public space. The group is
appealing the decision.

We understand the city`s need to plan for the safety and security of New
Yorkers and the many visitors who are expected for the convention, to be
held Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. But flexibility is also needed given the shifting
nature of politics in general and the constantly changing aspects of issues
of particular concern these days, including: the depressed economy and
unemployment, the ongoing 9/11 inquiry and the war in Iraq.

We remind city, state and federal law enforcement agencies that they are
charged with keeping us safe and secure, but also with upholding our
constitutional rights, including the right of the people to assemble. We
urge the Bloomberg administration and law enforcement agencies to work in
cooperation with the groups that plan to put that right into action this
summer.

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ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
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