UFPJ: Important New Developments Regarding August 29th

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email

============================================

IMPORTANT NEW DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING AUG. 29
An Open Letter to Our Supporters

Dear friend of UFPJ:

United for Peace and Justice has been fighting for
months to have our Constitutional rights respected. We
have been in a contentious process with the Mayor and
Police Department of New York City regarding the
location of our march and rally against the Bush agenda
on August 29th, the eve of the Republican National
Convention. We are writing to update you on these
negotiations and to make sure you know about a number
of important developments.

Almost three weeks ago, United for Peace and Justice
made the difficult decision to accept the West Side
Highway rally site for our August 29 protest, which was
imposed on us by Republican NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
and the New York Police Department. We had already
reached an agreement with the City regarding our
protest march, which will assemble at 14th Street and
Seventh Avenue and march up the avenue in front of
Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican
National Convention.

We were compelled to go along with the West Side
Highway, a rally site we did not like, in order to move
forward with our organizing work and build the largest
and broadest possible protest against the Bush agenda.
But we also made it clear ­ to the City, the media, and
our supporters ­ that there were numerous issues
regarding the West Side Highway location that needed to
be resolved to make this site workable for a rally.
These include the use of police barricades to pen in
protesters, which we emphatically oppose, and access to
free drinking water and shuttle buses, which are
essential given the highway’s lack of shade and remote
location.

Our plan to hold a safe and legal march past Madison
Square Garden remains firmly in place. But we are
increasingly concerned about the viability of a rally
on the West Side Highway, because of the following
developments:

1) We have had two recent meetings with the Police
Department, in which they did not make any concessions
or commitments on any of the unresolved issues we have
put on the table. Neither they nor anyone from the
Mayor’s office has given us any indication that they
are willing to work with us to meet our needs.

2) We have heard from a number of medical professionals
that there are serious potential public health risks
associated with holding our rally on the West Side
Highway, away from shade, stores, and public transit.

3) After consulting with a number of sound and stage
companies, we have learned that it will be extremely
difficult and potentially impossible to provide a
quality sound system for the entire rally area, which
would stretch for several miles, and that the cost of
sound and jumbotrons will be in the range of $300,000,
which is more than double what it would cost us to hold
a rally in Central Park.

4) We have gotten feedback from a number of groups and
individuals ­ particularly seniors, people with
disabilities, and people with young children ­ that
they cannot attend the rally if it is held on the West
Side Highway, because of health and safety concerns.
Many of our other supporters have said they will not
attend a rally there, because the inhospitable location
amounts to an attack on our right to free assembly.

In addition, since we announced our decision, some
important new information has appeared in the
mainstream media. Quinnipiac University released a
public opinion poll showing that 75% of New Yorkers
support our right to rally in Central Park. Meanwhile,
a horticulturalist who worked on the renovation of the
Great Lawn revealed to The New York Times that it was
engineered specifically to withstand large crowds,
undercutting the City’s claim that our rally would
irreparably damage the grass.

The question is, where do we go from here?

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow, August
10, to announce our next steps. Our goal for August 29
remains what it has always been: to bring the largest
and most representative number of people possible out
into the streets in opposition to the Bush agenda. We
are committed to having a safe, legal, and peaceful
protest, accessible to all..

We appreciate the broad support we have received
throughout this challenging process. We have been up
against an administration and a police department that
are openly hostile to our First Amendment rights. On
August 29, as massive numbers of people march in front
of the site of the Republican Convention, we will send
a strong, clear message: We reject the Bush
administration’s agenda of war, greed, hate and lies,
and we are standing up to the ominous suppression of
dissent in this country.

We know you stand with us in this effort, and we are
counting on you to continue building to make August 29
a huge success, overcoming the barriers that have been
put in our way by Bush, Bloomberg, and the NYPD.

In solidarity,

United for Peace and Justice

============================================

AUGUST 29, THE WORLD SAYS NO TO THE BUSH AGENDA!
Massive Protest at the Republican National Convention,
New York City
* Assemble at 10:00AM, Seventh Avenue @ 14th Street
* March steps off at noon

============================================

Visit the RNC mobilizing section of our website for
resources and to endorse the August 29 demonstration:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/rnc

============================================

We need your financial support to make the August 29
protest a success:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate

============================================

To receive email updates on the August 29 RNC protest,
visit:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email

============================================

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email