Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times - Sunday, 29 August, 2004
With tight security measures in place to thwart a terrorist attack, the expected 250 000 demonstrators will find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they march in Central Park as they had planned, as officials have banned protest meetings in the park.
One anti-war group, United for Peace and Justice, vowed to go ahead with a march today past Madison Square Garden, the venue for the GOP (Grand Old Party) convention, ending up at Union Square. March organisers said individuals could then decide whether or not they wanted to enter Central Park.
The group had earlier pulled out of a deal to hold a rally on a west Manhattan highway following the march.
It said the gathering at Union Square would also not be a rally, and that police had agreed to not keep the protesters there in a pen. "To our supporters, we ask that you follow our march to the end and then make your own decision," the group's national co-ordinator, Leslie Cagan, told AP.
A second group called ANSWER, which earlier this week had a court appeal rejected to stage a rally in Central Park, responded by handing out fliers informing protesters of their right to congregate in the park.
The flier outlines city regulations, which the group says allow demonstrators to bring political signs to the park as long as they are no larger than about 60cm by 90cm.
A poll this week found that 71% of New Yorkers believed the city should allow a rally in the park, while 11% said they would take part in the protests planned for the convention.
Some protesters started early - 14 Aids activists were arrested on Thursday after they stripped naked opposite the site of the convention, demanding that President George W Bush make good on his promise to help HIV-positive people in the world's poorest countries.
The protesters were charged with public lewdness, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment.
Another group who had walked some 400km from Boston after protesting at the Democratic National convention marched through midtown Manhattan, protesting that neither party spoke for the people.
"The two parties are not representative of the people. They represent corporate greed," said Kat McIver, a march organiser from Orange County in California.
United for Peace and Justice said the Rev Jesse Jackson, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore and actor Danny Glover were expected to join its march.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who was seen as a hero for his handling of the September 11 terrorist attacks, will kick off the convention tomorrow evening with a speech that is expected to focus on the attacks while praising Bush's leadership as a wartime president.
Critics have slammed the Republicans for politicising the attacks, and the party has backed off any plans for official visits to the World Trade Center site during the convention.
Meanwhile, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been telling residents to behave and put up with the strict security measures installed for the convention.
Bloomberg, a Republican, said: "I think New Yorkers look forward to having extra security in this day and age. We've come to realise that it's a dangerous world."
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