Major protest planned during the Republican convention

SUNDAY: The largest planned demonstration, with an expected crowd of up to 250,000, is to march uptown past Madison Square Garden and then back downtown to protest the Iraq war. Some are expected to gather later in Central Park, although they were denied a permit to do so. Later, as delegates arrive for special Broadway show performances, activists plan to swarm streets outside theaters.

MONDAY: A coalition of New York-based community groups called Still We Rise plans to march from Union Square to the Garden to highlight social and economic issues. Also, thousands of homeless, poor or disabled people plan to protest, led by Cheri Honkala, who organized the largest protest at the 2000 Republican convention in Philadelphia.

TUESDAY: A day of mass civil disobedience _ and likely mass arrests _ is being organized by a loose council of activists who say the city’s process for issuing protest permits violates rights to free speech and assembly. Actions are expected at offices of corporations activists call "war profiteers." The evening is to culminate in a planned mass takeover of streets around the Garden.

WEDNESDAY: A three-mile (five-kilometers) symbolic unemployment line from Wall Street to the Garden is to start the day. Also planned: a Central Labor Council rally outside the Garden, and a National Organization for Women protest in Central Park.

THURSDAY: On the convention’s final day, Vietnam Veterans Against the War intend to hold a vigil in Union Square Park and other protesters plan to party in Tompkins Square Park.