NY Mayor Will Cave on Rally Permit

[SoDesuKa]

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will grant the protesters a permit to rally in Central Park on August 29th. He'll do so reluctantly, but he knows his ultimate responsibility is to the people of New York City. The Republicans will call him a wuss when he caves in, but he doesn't want to provoke a riot that may end up being the crowning dubious achievement of his time in office.

Nobody should waste any sympathy on Michael Bloomberg. He's in a jam, but he wanted the job. He wasn't enough of a bigshot as CEO of Bloomberg Incorporated, he had to be the Mayor. As New Yorkers say, tough shit.

[slinkerwink]

1. link?

I need a link to the news article!

[SoDesuKa]

7. March Is Going Ahead

The march is going ahead as planned. The umbrella group, United for Peace and Justice, is suing for a permit to use Central Park for the rally after the march. If the judge awards the permit, then Bloomberg is off the hook. But if the judge upholds the city's right to deny a permit, Bloomberg will be responsible for the riot that will almost certainly take place. New Yorkers are in a nasty mood about taking the hit on September 11th and then having the Republicans exploit it.

Mayor Bloomberg and his Republican pals have already begun a fear campaign designed to keep people away from this historic event; we cannot let them silence us! We must redouble our efforts to make this legal and peaceful protest march as broad and massive as possible. UFPJ filed a lawsuit on August 18, seeking a court order to allow us to rally in Central Park after our march. (See news articles for background.) Until this lawsuit is resolved, we will not be able to announce the final destination of our march, or the complete route. However, rest assured that our assembly area will remain unchanged; we will still hold a legal, permitted march past Madison Square Garden; and we will not go to the West Side Highway.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=sub&sub=47

[CaptainClark23]

2. I don't think so

Bloomberg's fortunes do not hinge upon his success or failure as Mayor of NY. His fortunes (professional if not financial) do hinge, however, on the amity of fellow corp. CEO's.

He's been told what to do, and he's gonna follow orders.

Sunday is gonna be a clusterfuck of New York City proportions.

[BillZBubb]

3. The Repugs absolutely WANT a confrontation.

Bloomberg may do the right thing and grant the permit. I'm skeptical thought that he'll buck the desires of his masters.

[aquart]

5. They AIN'T his masters.

[CaptainClark23]

8. question

one NY'er to another here....curious as to what makes you certain that Bloomberg's actions are purely self-motivated in this regard.

It seems to me that it would be in the best interests of the citizens of NYC to allow a safe rally site and destination for the couple hundred thou minimum that will be marching on Sunday. The West Side highway plan was not a "safe and secure" area to hold such a large crowd, and in my opinion would have disrupted the operations and commerce of the City more than the Central Park location.

There will be alot of people in the streets, and as of now, there is no plan for how or where those people will disperse peaceably. This is a recipe for disaster, practically and politically. I cannot see how Bloomberg would be taking this hardline stance if not at the behest of some third party.

[deutsey]

4. I'm hoping he'll cave

If some protesters decide to go to Central Park without a permit (UFPJ is not calling for demonstrators to do this), it could get ugly when police move in to clear them out.

[WI_DEM]

6. if a permit is really issued how many people do you think will gather?

I think over 100,000

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Screw Bloomberg and screw his West Side stadium project.

I'm not a NY Jets fan, but by G*d, with that stadium location, you cannot have an honest-to-goodness tailgate party.

Tailgate parties before football games are a tradition, and as the movie Mystic Pizza observed "...you don't monkey with tradition..."


:evilgrin:

[realFedUp]

10. Good for the mayor

I hope he calls off the big sound machines too...

I like the creative protesting starting...

-snip-

NEW YORK - In case their discontent isn't already clear, protesters are spelling it out. "Stop Bush Now" signs and other anti-GOP messages are appearing throughout the city well before delegates arrive for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.
Bright blue tarps, painted with glaring yellow letters, are going up on dozens of rooftops in Brooklyn, under the flight paths into busy New York airports. Thousands of delegates and convention guests peering down at the city might see messages like "No more years" and "Re-defeat Bush."