Vast Anti-Bush Protest Greets Republicans in New York
by Robert F. McFadden, The New York Times
August 30, 2004
A roaring two-mile river of demonstrators surged through the canyons of Manhattan yesterday in the city's largest political protest in decades, a raucous but peaceful spectacle that pilloried George W. Bush and demanded regime change in Washington.

Hundreds of Thousands March Against Bush, War
by Raja Mishra and Tatsha Robertson, The Boston Globe
August 30, 2004
As Republicans began converging on the city to renominate a wartime president, the largest protest ever at a political convention was staged yesterday in Manhattan, a largely peaceful march against President Bush and the Iraq war that underscored the deep divisions within the nation as the fall campaign approaches.

Poll: New Yorkers Support Protests
The Guardian (UK)
August 26, 2004
New Yorkers want their city to welcome not only Republican convention delegates but also the protesters who plan to demonstrate against the GOP. A sizable local contingent plans to join the marchers.

Editorial: Grass 1, People 0
The Globe and Mail
August 25, 2004
If New York City is the beating heart of the world's greatest democracy, then Central Park's Great Lawn is the democratic heart of New York. This 12-acre grassy field is to Manhattan what the Lincoln Memorial is to Washington -- its most venerable public space, where people spontaneously gather during momentous times.

Editorial: New York Tramples Bill of Rights to Protect Grass
USA Today
August 25, 2004
Worries about trampling on the city's grass are a weak excuse for treading upon Americans' First Amendment right to assemble to protest their government.

UFPJ Goes to Court for Central Park
by Christopher Mumma and Josh P. Hamilton, Bloomberg.com
August 24, 2004
A group opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq asked a judge to order New York City to issue a permit to let 250,000 people attend a rally in Central Park on Sunday, the day before the start of the Republican National Convention.

UFPJ Sues NYC for Central Park Rally
The Associated Press
August 18, 2004
The anti-war group planning a massive demonstration the day before the GOP convention asked a judge on Wednesday to overrule city officials and let them gather in Central Park.

N.Y. Mayor to Protesters: Go Shopping
by Michael Powell, The Washington Post
August 18, 2004
Few protesters seemed amused by Mayor Bloomberg's "Peaceful Protester" discount shopping plan. Terrible cynics all, they assume Bloomberg wants to divert attention from his politically unpopular battle with United for Peace and Justice, the largest of the antiwar groups.

Protest a "Privilege," Says NYC Mayor Bloomberg
by Glenn Thrush, New York Newsday
August 17, 2004
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, already under fire for his tough stance against anti-GOP protest groups, yesterday suggested that First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly are "privileges" that could be lost if abused.

NYC Denies Anti-War Group Second Protest Permit
by Sara Kugler, Associated Press
August 11, 2004
Hours after an anti-war group broke an agreement with the city on Tuesday and renewed its fight to protest in Central Park the day before the GOP convention, officials denied the park permit request and accused the group of engaging in "theatrics," likely sending the matter into court.

Anti-War Group Again Seeks Permit for NYC Park Rally
by Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg News
August 10, 2004
An anti-war group planning a 250,000- person protest on the eve of the Republican National Convention in New York said it won't rally on Manhattan's West Side Highway, as agreed to last month with the city, and will file instead for a new permit to gather at Central Park.

Anti-War Group Rejects West Side Highway Rally Site
by Grant McCool, Reuters
August 10, 2004
An anti-war group planning the biggest rally of the Republican convention insisted on Tuesday it be allowed to protest in Central Park and rejected an alternate site chosen by New York police.

West Coast Activists Travel to NYC for GOP Convention
by Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle
August 09, 2004
Over the next few weeks, more than 1,000 Bay Area activists and artists will head to New York to raise a ruckus around the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Permit Denial for Central Park Adds to Push for Protests There
by Michael Brick, The New York Times
August 09, 2004
"I think they can expect a lot of people are going to end up congregating in Central Park during the convention," said Christopher Dunn, the associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "There's widespread unhappiness with the city's decision. Many people will go there simply to protest that closure."

Editorial: Of Grass Roots and Politics
The New York Times
July 28, 2004
The protesters have a right to have their say in a proper venue. In a recent poll, three-quarters of New Yorkers believed that venue to be Central Park. The 50,000 or so Republicans and others attending the G.O.P.'s own political demonstration next month don't have such worries. City officials are worrying about their every need, even concierge and spa services. They'll also be treated to a concert, in Central Park.

Contest Between Liberties and Security at Republican Convention
by Diane Caldwell, The New York Times
July 26, 2004
According to a horticultural expert who worked on refurbishing Central Park's Great Lawn, it was designed to withstand the abuse of large crowds since the grass was planted in a special soil mix so that it could take the weight and traffic without reverting to the great dust bowl it had once been.

In 1773, They Risked Their Lives to Speak Out
by Jimmy Breslin, New York Newsday
July 25, 2004
A simple, needed protest march in New York at the Republican convention becomes vital to Democracy because, to your dismay and disgust, it now is being blocked by an unconscionable act of the city government of New York.

A Green Light on the Road to Protest
by Clyde Haberman, The New York Times
July 23, 2004
It may be only July, with late December looking far away, but curiosity breeds a question about the traditional New Year's Eve celebrations in New York: Will City Hall move them from Times Square to the West Side Highway?

UFPJ Agrees to NYC Rally Site
by Sara Kugler, Associated Press
July 22, 2004
An anti-war group on Wednesday gave up its fight for Central Park and accepted the city's offer to use a highway along Manhattan's far west side for a rally before the Republican convention.

Let Protesters in Park: Poll
by Stefan C. Friedman, New York Post
July 21, 2004
Three out of every four New Yorkers believe protesters should be allowed to use Central Park to demonstrate during the Republican National Convention, according to a new poll.

Mayor Wants to Protect "His" Park
by Glenn Thrush, New York Newsday
July 20, 2004
The city's attempts to bar 250,000 antiwar protesters from tramping through the grassy idyll that is Central Park's Great Lawn is something of a personal turf battle for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Editorial: Pop Quiz: What Do New York 2004 and Chicago 1968 Have in Common?
by Adam Cohen, The New York Times
July 19, 2004
It's easy to understand how Mr. Bloomberg's background, like Mayor Daley's, gave him a distaste for unruly protesters. But that doesn't excuse his failure to speak out forcefully about the importance of free speech. He is mayor of New York now, and one of the New York's proudest attributes has always been its openness to robust political debate.

Editorial: NYPD Sets a Dangerous Ultimatum
El Diario/La Prensa
July 16, 2004
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's ultimatum to a group that wants to hold a march and rally is alarming and should be denounced as such by all of us who believe in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees "the right of the people to peaceably assemble."

UFPJ Pickets City Hall in Favor of Rally Permit
by Diane Cardwell, The New York Times
July 16, 2004
About 150 protesters picketed outside of City Hall Park yesterday to demand that the Bloomberg administration allow a giant rally in Central Park before the Republican National Convention next month.

Anti-War Group Plans Protest Over GOP Convention Plans
Associated Press
July 15, 2004
An anti-war group planned a demonstration outside City Hall on Thursday to urge city officials to allow it to use Central Park for a rally on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

NYPD Tells UFPJ: "Take It or Leave It"
by Celeste Katz and Maggie Haberman, New York Daily News
July 15, 2004
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly threw down the gauntlet yesterday to an anti-war group in a long-running feud over where to stage a massive rally during the Republican National Convention.

United, It Stands Up Against Mayor
by Michael Saul, New York Daily News
July 12, 2004
The group's name is United for Peace and Justice, but it's fighting a war - against Mayor Bloomberg. The organization's battle to hold a massive anti-war march leading to a rally in Central Park on Aug. 29 has made it the poster child for protesters at the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Park Lawn's Great for Anti-War Rally
by Juan Gonzalez, New York Daily News
July 9, 2004
I am standing in the lush green silence of Central Park's Great Lawn yesterday afternoon - as close to the heart of this great city as anyone can get.

Right to Protest is Being Stomped On
by Christopher Dunn and Donna Lieberman, Newsday
July 9, 2004
In about seven weeks, hundreds of thousands of people may descend on midtown Manhattan for the Republican National Convention. Some will be delegates, most will be demonstrators, and one will be the president of the United States, there to accept his party's nomination.

The Grass Can Take It!
by Jimmy Breslin, Newsday
July 8, 2004
I got to the area known as the Great Lawn in Central Park yesterday and the first thing I did was jump up and come down on the grass as hard as I could. "Womp!" I yelled. I jumped up again and came down with both feet stamping hard on the grass. "Womp." Now I started to stamp my right foot, hard, fast, "Womp, womp, womp."

Editorial: Accommodating the Protesters
The New York Times
July 5, 2004
It does not require extensive polling to predict that when the Republican convention comes to New York, there will be a lot of protesters. If the city wants to be the host of a convention — and Mayor Michael Bloomberg vigorously pursued this one — it has to give reasonable access to those with alternative views.

New York Activists Ready for Republican Invasion
Shawn McCarthy, The Globe and Mail (Canada)
July 6, 2004
A white-haired man from United for Peace and Justice had some surprisingly good news last week for the 150 activists gathered in a steamy East Village church to plan their protests for the coming Republican National Convention.

Protesters' Morning Greeting for Mayor: Where's Our Permit?
by Winnie Hu, The New York Times
June 17, 2004
When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg arrived at City Hall yesterday morning, he breezed by the usual array of police officers, lobbyists and government aides gathered outside. But one group was not so ready to let him pass by.

NY Convention Protesters Say Rights Threatened
by Christine Kearney, Reuters
June 15, 2004
New York officials are threatening the rights of demonstrators planning to show up at the Republican National Convention by failing to issue a single permit so far, a protest leader said on Tuesday.

Planning the RNC Protests
by Daryl Khan, New York Newsday
June 09, 2004
"Every single thing that a corporate meeting planner could think of, we think about, and we need to get it all done on a shoestring with great style," said William K. Dobbs, spokesman for United for Peace and Justice.

Activists Fight to Protest at Conventions
by Tatsha Robertson, The Boston Globe
June 06, 2004
Conservative activists planning public demonstrations in Boston during the Democratic National Convention have won changes in the city's controversial permit process, but progressives who want to protest during the Republican National Convention in Manhattan are having a harder time getting official approval.

Police and Protesters at Odds on RNC Plans
by Julia Preston, The New York Times
June 05, 2004
A top New York police officer defended plans yesterday to use four-sided barricades to control demonstrators at the Republican national convention, saying the police want to keep streets open to allow any emergency evacuation of the area.

Protesters Wait for GOP Convention Invite
by Michael Powell, Washington Post
May 17, 2004
There are moments -- and this could be one -- when the Republicans may wonder why they decided to locate their national convention in Fun City.

Editorial: Allow Free Speech
New York Newsday
May 12, 2004
Maybe it really is about the lawn. Maybe Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg doesn't want to let 250,000 demonstrators protest the Iraq war on the Great Lawn in Central Park because the city really is worried about damage to its new irrigation system - not to mention the $20-million rehab it gave this patch of green space over the last three years.

Editorial: Lawn vs. Demonstrators
The New York Times
May 11, 2004
Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbied hard to attract the Republican convention to New York this summer. Now it's coming, and with it swarms of protesters. The city is obliged to offer hospitality to both the conventioneers and the demonstrators.

Editorial: Lefties on the Lawn
New York Post
May 10, 2004
A gaggle of lefty agitators wants to convene in Central Park this summer to give President Bush a little grief. But the Parks Department says no, because they might bend the grass. Well, too bad about that. "Keep Off The Grass" appears nowhere in the First Amendment.

Editorial: The Right to Protest (With a Permit)
El Diario
May 10, 2004
The New York City Police Department has announced that groups that want to demonstrate during the Republican National Convention this summer must submit their applications for permits by Tuesday, June 15. That`s 11 weeks before the convention kicks off.