Reply #2: No, you don't need a permit.

[rawstory]

Here's what the Village Voice has to say about the law:

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0251/lee.php

The NYPD relinquished its spying autonomy as a result of a 1971 class-action suit filed by a diverse group of activists who accused police of using dossiers and undercover agents to chill and punish lawful dissent. Officials eventually admitted as much. In a historic settlement over a decade later, police promised to heed certain guidelines and be monitored by an oversight body when investigating constitutionally protected activity. Federal Judge Charles Haight signed the settlement—known as the Handschu agreement after one of the plaintiffs—into effect in 1985.