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The Mayor was crowing about how the Republican National Convention was a boon for New York City, bringing in $255 million during the dog days of August, but other businesses are saying it ain't so, with higher end businesses doing well and more mom-and-pop operations (especially around Madison Square Garden) doing only okay. The Beacon Hill Institute tells the NY Times that NYC did better than Boston, but that the city's $255 million figure will be offset by $100 million in losses. For his money, Mayor Bloomberg added that he'd like the Democratic AND Republican conventions in 2008; Gothamist admits that the idea of two conventions will make us consider a summer sabbatical.
The other side of the city's convention wrap-up press release was the story about the police: The first subheadline is "New York City Police Department Kept Entire City Safe While Allowing Free Speech." Yes, but the city may be facing those $1000 fines per protester kept in custody for over 24 hours, not to mention some City Council members stepping in to say yes, the NYPD violated protesters' rights. The NY Times notes in their story about the police vs. protesters saga that one arrested protester (a stylist for Sex and the City, no less) observed a fellow arrestee who had a burst colostomy bag: "He was throwing up all over the back of the bus. The entire bus begged the officers present to please get medical attention to this man. They completely ignored us." But the police, hardened veterans, think that some allegations of Pier "Guatanamo on the Hudson" 57 being unsafe are, well, whining: The president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association says relative to Rikers Island's "rats, the roaches, the mice, the alleged rapes and sodomies. [Protesters] should count their blessings."
Gothamist on protesters at the convention.
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Hmmm, Did Mayor Bloomberg count the Fines too?
Love the Riker's Island Comment. That's Like saying "Hey Man, So what if I Smashed your Toe, You have 9 others!" A True Statement, but you've still a smashed toe...
Um, Did the president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association just Compare protestors (Misdemeanors at best) to Hardened Felons? A Little out of scope...
yeah that's a very dumb thing for a spokesman to say... had these protesters gotten sodomized/raped there would be some serious litigation and the city would have a new set of PR problems to deal with.
Bloomberg and the police are trying to mislead us when they are comparing the temporary protestors arrest facilities to Rikers. Why not compare those facilities to Iraq or Russia?
The police, of course, have enormous security concerns. But it seems to me that some people at the top of the police and city governments were acting in a way "to teach the protestors a lesson." This is so unfortunate and it seems to me that it is this attitude (and the actions that resulted from it) that is creating the backlash.
It seems to me that the protestors were very well aware that their behavior should conform to their goals of peace and a better country.
side note about the photographing of protesters:
Red Squad -- 1971 film by NYU Film School students Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler, documenting the FBI and NYPD's surveillance of anti-Vietnam War protesters
http://www.psfp.com/redrevisited.htm
For anyone complaining about business being down immediately around MSG, have any of you EVER shopped around there? No? That's because all the stores are selling cheap crap Mecca shirts or nudie DVDs. Maybe you made a grey's papaya stop, maybe to hit the crapper at White Castle, maybe to vomit at Tir Nah Nah Nah Nog, but (excluding Macy's), that's all, folks! Let it be, unlike Boston, this city did well.