FYI for those attending RNC protests

New York To Welcome Peaceful Protesters With Discounts
Barbara Schoetzau
New York
18 Aug 2004, 22:01 UTC
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=BA767728-7ADF-41F0-AC910CA45F9B8647

New York has launched a program to welcome demonstrators coming to the 
city at the end of the month to protest the Republican presidential 
nominating convention. City officials hope the effort will ensure that 
the rallies are calm and, at the same time, contribute to the economy.

After months of negotiating with protest groups planning massive rallies 
in New York to demonstrate against everything from the war in Iraq to 
President Bush's formal renomination by his political party to 
administration policies on the environment, the city has now decided to 
embrace the demonstrators.

The city will give members of registered protest groups buttons 
containing a picture of the Statue of Liberty holding a banner that 
reads "peaceful political activists." People who show the buttons at 
restaurants, hotels, stores and museums will receive discounts. The 
effort is part of a campaign to keep the protests as peaceful as 
possible. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected in New York 
before and during the convention, which runs from August 30 until 
September 2.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that while most venues try to keep 
protesters away, New York wants to accommodate them, as long as they 
remain peaceful.

"We want to make sure that those who come here to protest get our 
message which is "We want you to be welcome and to enjoy New York City," 
he said.

The program is also part of a city effort to boost the local economy. 
The irony has not been lost on protest groups who say city officials are 
recognizing that there will be more demonstrators than convention 
delegates. Last month, businesses in Boston complained bitterly that 
tight security and heightened safety concerns during the Democratic 
convention actually hurt businesses.

Announcing the program, Mr. Bloomberg was joined by two former New York 
mayors, David Dinkins and Ed Koch, both Democrats. Mr. Koch said that 
the convention should be a plus for the city.

"We want you whether you are a demonstrator or whether you are a 
delegate, when you leave the city, as the Mayor pointed out, and go home 
to your own community, to say 'I had a wonderful time in New York.'"

Meanwhile one of the biggest groups, United for Peace and Justice, has 
filed a lawsuit asking the New York state Supreme Court to overrule a 
city order prohibiting the anti-war group from holding a rally in 
Central Park the day before the convention begins. The group had 
accepted the city's offer to march past the convention center at Madison 
Square Garden and then rally along the West Side Highway, but now says 
there are too many logistical problems in that plan.
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