I went to high school on Madison Ave. There are plenty of delis, granted they are uber snobby and ridiculously overpriced, but there are also pizzerias, diners, and other restaurants, all along the ave. The park also has cart vendors and water fountains so that one might not even need to go to the beast side.

"Madison isnt a commercial street?"

Try finding a deli on Madison. If the protesters want to shop for a new Kate Spade bag, they'll be in business.

Anyway, point is moot. Union Square is a great compromise. Very commerical, closer to the confention, history of civil rights protests and very photogenic.

Madison isnt a commercial street?

"not everyone will know how commercial free this area is and will not bring food, water, bandages..... please do your own research instead of just telling me i'm wrong."

So in other words, hijiki, New Yorkers have to sacrifice their lawn, possibly for up to two years while the grass regrows, because the protesters are too stupid to research the area they may be protesting in?

Oh, and I hang out in the Great Lawn all the time. It's a good 15 minute walk to any public facility of note, especially if you're on the east side, where the closest commercial street is Lexington.

If you're ready to call out the GUARD to protect the LAWN . . . why not just change your name to "Westchesterist?" or "LongIslandist?" You can take the reporter out of the suburbs, but . . .

Please, I was not implying that there should be no public protests. Of course there should be, but everyone should have to play under the rules (legal or otherwise) set forth. If a rally in Central Park had been approved, I would avoid the park for the day...however it has not been approved. I think all of the protestors just run the risk of making themselves look bad and giving valid ammo to the republicans.

NY'er, any protest in any public space could potentially disrupt someone else's enjoyment. So are you saying there should be no public protests? Or just none that bother you in particular?

What if you wanted to run along the West Side Highway the day of a WSH protest? Wouldn't a protest there also "force you into the fold" and "disrupt your enjoyment" of the piers or Battery Park? Common sense would say to avoid the area for that one day.

How do you handle parades, or the NYC Marathon, or bike races, or the Met Opera in the park?

Do you have a website with your daily whereabouts that people can check to make sure they aren't forcing or disrupting you?

And by the way, many of the protesters will be fellow New Yorkers. (This city is, by a recent count, 4-to-1 Democrats-to-Republicans.)

ALso, rally along a linear stretch of spacve doesn't make for a rally--it makes for a gathering where a the vast majority of participants will be marginalized blocks away from the focal point of the rally.

A rally on the great lawn allows for a somewhat circular gathering which means that a much smaller precentage of those gathered will be far fromthe heart of the rally.

Huge events that are forced into linear spaces during the gathering (as opposed to the marching) portion, are just a recipe for frustration and really do impede people's exercise of free speech and right to peaceably assemble. The park will survive. If not, all you central park refugees should come out to prospect park--it's really convenient--lots of subways nearby along with plenty of delis and such.

sorry larry dvm, i come out to wsh every day. i work here. there are no nearby subways. the closest is the ACE line at 8th ave... easily a 15 minute walk. and there are almost no restaurants or delis. yes, i bring my lunch (but i was also a scout)... not everyone will know how commercial free this area is and will not bring food, water, bandages..... please do your own research instead of just telling me i'm wrong.

Hijiki, there are delis and restaurants "out there." Many more than you're likely to find on upper 5th Ave or Central Park West. Also, if you're concerned about it, why not pick up something on the way? You don't have to be a scout to think of that. And the subways are within a few blocks--I'm sick of this "inaccessible" argument. The WSH site is a good one, not merely an adequate one.

"As is typical on these comment boards, a lot more arguing than research."

uh, larry, aren't we talking about the post-march rally? not the march itself. there are almost no restaurants or delis out here. and certainly no subways. check yourself.

and NY'er... protesters will not be allowed into the cordoned MSG area. ufpj are looking for a spot that does not interfere too much with people like you. for example, the great lawn which is out of the way of traffic and most of the city. the GOP was allowed to impose themselves over a swath of midtown. shutting down a good chunk of our city. ufpj is asking far less.

as you say, the park is multi-use. now wouldn't you think the request of 250,000 people to use a portion of the park, trumps your lonely run in the park for just one day?

As another NYer, I welcome any and all who come to my backyard who want to stand up for civil liberties and human rights the world over.

As a US citizen, I am ashamed of how my country has imposed its will on others in the world in a way that makes inconveniencing Central Park joggers, softballer players and NYC beach-goers pale by any comparison.

At the end of the day, it is our moral obligation to oppose one of the most destructive regimes ever to hold power. All the grass-huggers out there can bury their heads in the sand--I'll meet true patriots (from NY or otherwise) in the streets, in the park or whereever we can get truth and justice spoken and heard.

As another NYer, I welcome any and all who come to my backyard who want to stand up for civil liberties and human rights the world over.

As a US citizen, I am ashamed of how my country has imposed its will on others in the world in a way that makes inconveniencing Central Park joggers, softballer players and NYC beach-goers pale by any comparison.

At the end of the day, it is our moral obligation to oppose one of the most destructive regimes ever to hold power. All the grass-huggers out there can bury their heads in the sand--I'll meet true patriots (from NY or otherwise) in the streets, in the park or whereever we can get truth and justice spoken and heard.

SP, I don't get your point. Was I unclear in my post that I was referring to the assembly area? No, I was abundantly clear.

I also don't get how my post was a "flame." I was only noting what the UFPJ themselves are reporting on their website.

The "Hard to get to" argument is a straw-man, as both the assembly area and rally area are well-served by public transit. The entire route is easy to reach from all directions.

The "WSH is a barren wasteland" argument is also false, as the highway is in fact a landscaped parkway well-served by nearby businesses.

The "Sticking us out of sight" argument doesn't hold up, as the march passes by the convention site and its way through Midtown and on to the WTC site.

The "Penning in the crowd" argument won't work, because the rally site (not including the march route) is 4 miles long with exits at every block.

The "Everybody has a right to use the Park" argument is twisted here; the reason the Park requires permits for groups of more than 20 is because, indeed, everybody has a right to share in the Park, not to have it monopolized and damaged by big groups. All the arguments about Dave Matthews's concert are ill-informed: the DMB event was smaller by 200,000 people, and access was controlled--the rally group could easily swell to much larger numbers.

Despite the facts, protesters apparently want to be seen as trampled-upon victims.

Central Park is a multi-use park, that must serve a wide variety of interests. While I fully support the rights of protestors, I get the feeling that the protesters are trying to impose themsevles on us New Yorkers by holding htier protests in our backyard. If you want to protest the GOP convention, then go do it...at MSG...don't force me into the fold because I happen to want to go for a nice run in the park. Disrupting my enjoyment of the park is not going to make me join your cause...it is going to make me wish that all you protestors would go home.

"As is typical on these comment boards, a lot more arguing than research."

larry, you're a victim of your own arrogance. The assembly area is the place where the march BEGINS. The assembly area is a square around 7th avenue where people will join the demonstration. Maybe you should do some research yourself before you flame the people posting in this thread.

A few observations on the respective locations: The Great Lawn really has no convenient facilities to speak of. I go there all the time and can't remember seeing a water fountain or anything like that around. I believe there's one public restroom located on the southwest corner of the lawn behind the Delacorte Theater, but it tends to be so skanked out that I've run home to use my own bathroom instead--and I don't live that close. As for the West Side Highway, I'm a little puzzled about the complaints. I go down there all the time, especially when it's brutally hot. There are few breezier places to be on a hot summer day than on the Hudson. I certainly didn't feel oppressed when I went to the BBQ and Blues Festival two weeks ago that was held on the pier that will be used as the police detention center. A lot of great improvement work has been done along the WSH in the past few years. A lot of the piers are public parks and there are a good number of clean public restrooms. If the area is such a wasteland, it's odd that I see so many families and pedestrians enjoying their weekend afternoons there. Shoot, I took my Mom and Dad (both in their sixties) over there along with my sister and her five-year-old son after a Mother's Day brunch and they thought it was pretty sweet. I think UPJ is missing out on a good opportunity to march right past the Garden and have a decent rally. The Great Lawn is nowhere near the convention and completely secluded from both the East and West Side streets.

the west side highway is far more difficult to get to than the park

It's a good thing this doesn't matter, since UFPJ says the assembly area stretches from 14th to 23rd Streets, between 5th and 9th Avenues. That's 36 square blocks encompassing 8 subway stations. So, it shouldn't be too hard to get to.

What remains in debate is where the march will end after passing directly in front of MSG. No matter what, the march will go directly past the convention site.

As is typical on these comment boards, a lot more arguing than research.

wynardo,

don't you think that 250,000 largely static protesters would do less damage to the precious grass than 75,000 concert-goers dancing spinning about to dave matthews? you have no evidence that this event would harm the lawn as much as you say.

also, the west side highway is far more difficult to get to than the park. not to mention one of the most inhospitable areas of the city for a person on foot. i know, i work on the wsh.

Could someone clear something up for me? With this "Westside Highway" spot, did the city actually offer to close the entire highway? From where to where? Seems mighty inconvienent to commuters trying to get in/out of the city. Another reason the protesters were right to blow off the offer.