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An interesting juxtaposition of convention news today: The Times reports that Wall Street firms are going to be wining and dining Republican politicians and delegates in town for the Republican National Convention (august 30-September 2), while Newsday says end of August street fairs will be banned because police need to concentrate their efforts on convention security. There had been 14 street fairs scheduled during the time of the convention, but they have now been reschedule. Police officers will be working 12 hours shifts plus overtime during the convention, and while most street fair organizers understand the demands of the police, they are disappointed that visiting delegates won't be able to see a NYC street fair in its glory, smoky Italian sausages, watery fruit smoothies, cheap socks for sale, and all.
The Times gives some detail to the parties that are being planned for Republicans - many of which financial institutions pay for while Republicans plan. The two big honorees are Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Banking Committe, and Ohio Representive Michael Oxley, the House Committee on Financial Services chairman, so expect to hear those names a lot in August. One, thrown by Securities Industry Association and the Bond Market Association, will be held at Penthouse 15 on the West Side; it's the same building where a party crasher died as he tried to get in.
And, hey - if you're between ages 18-24, perhaps you are the youth speaker the Republican National Committee and MTV are looking for! Write an essay about "Why is the President's call to community service important and how have you demonstrated it?"
The GOP's site for the convention. How to apply for a license to sell at a street fair. Gotham Gazette on convention risks. And a Calendar of street fairs in New York and outlying areas.
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These GOP bastards are ruining our city.
Oh great, first the republican slave-masters forbid us from taking photos in the subway and now they take away our street fairs!!! What will become of the asian street-massage artists? Where will we get our grilled corn from? And what will I do if I need some shitty sunglasses and/or extension cords?? Corrie/Calalille, can you please organize a hunger strike until these authoritarian dictator thugs give us back our street fairs!!!!
I'm wishing the protesters will turn violent so they will have to cut the convention short. The sooner they leave the better. We can hold a Street Fair Celebrating the Republicans leaving afterwards. I'll bring the keg.
People - I'm not defending the GOP convention, but for a comparison look at what they are doing in Boston for the Democratic convention:
City urges firms to give vacation time
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/05/21/massive_closing_of_roads_set_for_convention_week/
They are basically telling everyone to leave the city for almost a week. They've asked restaurants to stock up on food (!) in order to curb deliveries and have asked major companies, like Fidelity, to give their workers vacation time, at those firms' expense.
Now, I'm not sure if this makes the DNC "slave masters" as well, but I can only imagine the uproar if the RNC: closed 40 miles of roadway in the city, including a major interstate, shut down public commuter rails and told Wall Street and Big Media to give their people a few days off. This stuff is out of control on BOTH sides of the spectrum....
why the fuck don't we just have both conventions in kansas?
They really ought to hold the conventions someplace less congested. Doing it in the middle of the desert like Burning Man would be one approach, but really, don't you think Milwaukee would be delighted to have one of the conventions, or Omaha? Those are both decent-sized cities with adequate facilities for something like this.
And if it's an issue of making the convention a treat for the delegates, what about holding them both at Disneyworld? Nobody goes there in August, anyway.
Stop the presses! Sterling, I totally agree with you on this one (actually, I did on that Hummer vs. Jetta thing as well, but anyway...) And just think, when the f***ing Olympics get here and they expand the Javits center, it'll be like this every day of the year.
What was that line about guests and fish? Well, I think both Beantowners and fellow Gothamists will agree two days have gone by already...
The thing is, we'd have to get BOTH parties to agree to convene in Orlando, otherwise the party that wasn't there would make fun of the party that was. It's ripe for parody.
Send one to Universal and one to the Maus Haus. And get Simon Cowell and Jeff Probst to cover it. How's that for reality programming?