NYC Denies All Central Park Rally Permits

[southernleftylady]

NEW YORK - The city's decision to deny a permit to protesters for a rally on Central Park's Great Lawn on the weekend before the Republican National Convention is about preserving the lawn, not suppressing speech, lawyers for the city said in federal court Friday.


The lawn would be ruined if 75,000 people gathered there for a rally on Aug. 28 and then 250,000 people used the lawn for another rally the next day, said Gail Donoghue, representing the city.

"I think two is too many back to back. The lawn would have no time to recover," Donoghue told U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III in Manhattan. "The damage would be really substantial."

So the city has "treated everyone equally," she said, turning down both requests as well as all five other groups that want to use the Great Lawn for protests during the convention, scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=3&u=/ap/20040820/ap_on_re_us/gop_convention_protests_1

[dweller]

1. oh well, so that's that.

looks like the grass is toast.

i hope everyone treats it 'equally'
dp

edit: searching for my link
One's-self I sing, a simple separate person,
Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.>

[WLKjr]

2. I don't think that NYC has enough jail cells........

There will be more protesters than cells, so how can they arrest all of them?

[henslee]

16. Who needs cells? Its summer. There's always Floyd Bennet Field.

In fact, thats where cops are practicing simulated riot exercises. Just saw mock riot re-enactments in the paper.

I bet they will arrest folks en masse, spend about a day processing them, drive them out of the city and release them.

[prolesunited]

3. Our democracy is at risk of being seized

by fascists and religious fanatics, but heaven forbid we trample the grass. :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[smirkymonkey]

4. The fucking grass again!

Do they have any idea how ridiculous this concern is in the face of what is going on in this country?

Besides, just give the bill to Bloomberg for re-sodding the damn lawn - he's the one that got this whole ball rolling in the first place.

Why are Republicans ALL such ASSHOLES!

[LibraLabSoldier]

5. Grass-ping at straws.

They are desperate. It isnt enough that Bush cant have a rally, without hand selecting the participants, making them pay for a ticket, and then coaching them for what to say.......

It seems the Emperor doesnt like to be told that he is wearing no clothes.

Kerry doesnt have to charge admission, or screen his supporters.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Ha, ha! Grassholes!

Well, there is still plenty of pavement in this city! :)

[banana republican]

7. hey dudes anyone got any NY grass??? I hear it smokes really well

[Lone_Wolf]

8. So Bloombergs a conservationist now...

This has got to be the only he's concerned about the environment.

[necso]

9. Come on, this was a given,

if only to piss a lot of people off.

[gauguin57]

10. Bulljive! I was at a much bigger rally, and the damned grass was fine

On June 12, 1981, one of the more thrilling days of my life, I participated -- with a crowd estimated at 750,000 to nearly 1 million people -- in the massive Nuclear Freeze rally in Central Park.

We marched through the streets of New York, and most of us packed into the park -- listening to celebrities from Orson Welles to Dr. Spock speak against nuclear proliferation ... and hear singers including James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Bruce Springsteen (who showed up unannounced) lend their voices to the throng.

And glory be ... the GRASS SURVIVED. Survived all those people parking their asses on the grasses.

Bloomberg, you're full of applesauce about the grass.

[ParanoidPat]

13. I was there as well......

......and like he says, the grass was just fine! :smoke: :hippie: :evilgrin:

[gauguin57]

14. Wow, Pat ... I didn't see you in the park in '82!

Where were you!? LOL.

[ParanoidPat]

15. Selling T-shirts! LOL!

My wife and I brought our then 2 year old son and we turned our back for 30 seconds and a very nice but slightly misguided lady decided that he was lost and grabbed him, despite his protestations, and tried to turn him over to the Police! :(

No harm no foul, my son told the cop what happened! :evilgrin:

[BillZBubb]

11. The lawn versus free speech and the right to assemble?

Gosh that's sure a hard one! I must have missed the part of the constitution guaranteeing the rights of the lawn. But then I don't have a copy of the Repugs "U.S. Constitution for Dummies". I'm sure protecting the lawn is in there.

[Cleita]

12. I thought this was kind of interesting.

http://www.americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_central_park_maintain/

<snip>
Transformation and adaptability Since 1980, New York City and the Central Park Conservancy have worked steadily to revitalize all of Central Park's lawns and appointments. Last November, restoration of the Great Lawn was completed, transforming what had come to be known as the "Great Dustbowl" into 55 acres of green lawn, softball fields, volleyball and basketball courts, and a one-eighth mile running track.

According to New York's Parks & Recreation Department, the new lawn was created with 500,000 square feet of Kentucky Bluegrass and perennial rye sod; 25,000 cubic yards of soil; 22,500 linear feet of storm turf and sub-surface drainage lines; and 11,000 linear feet of irrigation lines with 275 pop-up sprinklers. Nearly 230,000 trees, shrubs, native grasses and perennials were planted, and decorative bluestone paths and plazas were added.<snip>

I thought their choice of grass interesting. Although Kentucky Bluegrass can handle the pounding of large hooved heavy animals, it would seem more weedy and tough grasses would have been a better choice. So, if I were one of those gardeners and conservers tenderly grooming what was once the "Great Dustbowl", I guess I would be upset. However, doesn't Central Park have many paths that one could walk on in protest?

I am rather curious because I have never seen Central Park except in movies and on TV.