Call to Demand an 8/29 Rally Permit!

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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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Call NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to demand an
August 29 rally permit for United for Peace and Justice!
Phone 212-788-3000
Fax 212-788-9711
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PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

With less than two months until the massive march and rally on August 29th
(the day before the Republican Convention opens in New York City), United
for Peace and Justice is still negotiating for the permits. We have one
important victory to report, thanks in significant part to the huge number
of phone calls and faxes made by supporters like you: The New York City
Police have agreed that we will be able to march directly in front of
Madison Square Garden, the site of the RNC.

But we still do not have a permit for our rally after the march. We need
your help again, and we need it today. On Friday, July 9, we have another
meeting with the police department, and it would be wonderful to flood the
office of the mayor of NYC with thousands of phone calls and faxes before
then.

We are urging people from every corner of this country to immediately
contact the mayor of New York City and urge him to issue a permit for our
rally on the Great Lawn in Central Park on Sunday, August 29th.

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

Read on for more background, and for the text of yesterday’s New York Times
editorial supporting our right to rally in the park.

When United for Peace and Justice applied for our permits in June 2003
(that's right, more than a year ago), we requested the use of the Great
Lawn in Central Park. The lawn has been the site of many of New York's
major events, everything from rock concerts, the NY Philharmonic Orchestra,
religious services by the Pope and the Dalai Lama, to some of the largest
protest activities in this city's history. For many political and practical
reasons we know the Great Lawn is the best location for this rally.

The Parks Department insists that our large numbers will do irreparable
damage to the Great Lawn. We do not believe this is the case, but in the
interest of resolving the matter, we have now made five different proposals
for possible rally locations.

The Great Lawn remains our first choice, but we also suggested the North
Meadow (another large area in Central Park, but 15 blocks further north);
using both the Great Lawn and the North Meadow, to ease the pressure on
each site; Times Square; and Third Avenue, one of the widest avenues in
Manhattan. All of our proposals have been rejected.

The city has only one proposal, which we do not like. They want us to rally
on West Street, which is a highway that runs along the west edge of
Manhattan, with our stage at Chambers Street, all the way downtown near the
World Trade Center. This location would literally marginalize us, placing
us far away from the heart of the city. It also would make for a very long
march and a hot and unshaded rally.

On top of this, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has publicly attacked United for
Peace and Justice, claiming that we had not submitted our permit
applications, that we are refusing to negotiate with the city, and that we
have caused the delay in issuing permits to other groups. In fact,  we
filed our permit requests on June 4, 2003; we have had five meetings with
the police, one with the Parks Department, and have requested a meeting
with the mayor; and the police have been issuing permits to other groups!

On Tuesday, July 6, The New York Times ran an editorial – its second one --
supporting our request for the use of the Great Lawn (see below). We have
additional editorial support from the New York Post, El Diario/La Prensa,
New York Newsday, and several other NYC papers (visit
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/rnc to see the full text of all these
editorials). Elected officials and other prominent New Yorkers are
supporting us.

Now is the time for people throughout the greater New York City area and
around the country to make your voices heard as well. Please take a moment
right now and call Mayor Bloomberg at 212-788-3000. And if the lines are
busy, try again later! Thanks so much for your support.

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ACCOMMODATING THE PROTESTERS
The New York Times, July 6, 2004

It does not require extensive polling to predict that when the Republican
convention comes to New York, there will be a lot of protesters. If the
city wants to be the host of a convention — and Mayor Michael Bloomberg
vigorously pursued this one — it has to give reasonable access to those
with alternative views. The city has not been forthcoming in its offers of
protest sites, and it has been unduly dismissive of the free-expression
interests at stake. It should do a better job of coming up with an
acceptable site for the protesters.

For well over a year, a group called United for Peace and Justice has been
seeking a Central Park permit for a protest that it expects could draw
250,000 people. The city offered a park in Queens, hardly appropriate when
the convention is in Manhattan. Now it is offering the West Side Highway,
but the organizers are understandably unhappy. A highway is hardly a
natural setting for a rally. Since the space is narrow, a "rally" there
could end up being a three-mile string of people, many of them unable to
see the stage or hear the speakers.

The mayor has acted as if demonstrators are an annoyance, to be shunted as
far away as possible. Recently, he unfairly accused organizers of trying to
gum up the negotiations in the interests of getting publicity. But New York
City has a long and proud history of welcoming peaceful protests and
political dissent. This tradition, and the First Amendment, cannot be
tossed aside simply because a political convention has come to town.

Both sides should work harder to forge a compromise. When the city rejected
a permit to use the Great Lawn in Central Park, saying that costly
renovation had made the site too fragile to handle a protest, organizers
said they would take the North Meadow, but the city rejected that location,
too.

All of Central Park should not be off limits. The city should consider
whether there are ways to make it accessible, while limiting damage. If the
park isn't feasible, the city should do better than offering the highway.
One alternative is Times Square, a central location with a history of
accommodating crowds.

The city is already rolling out the red carpet for the Republicans, with an
ad campaign urging New Yorkers to "make nice" to the delegates. People who
want to take exception to Republican policies are also a legitimate part of
convention week, and the city needs to make nice to them, too.

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AUGUST 29, THE WORLD SAYS NO TO THE BUSH AGENDA!
March and Rally at the Republican National Convention, New York City
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Visit the new RNC mobilizing section of our website for resources and to
endorse the August 29 demonstration:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/rnc
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We need your financial support to make the August 29 protest a success:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate
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To receive email updates on the August 29 RNC protest, visit:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
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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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