Past and Future Protest News

Brilliant! It looks like Pier 57, aka Guantánamo on the Hudson, aka the holding pen for protesters during the Republican National Convention, may have been used by the police without permission! The Hudson River Park Trust is saying that the NYPD said Pier 57 would only be used as a secondary facility, but the NYPD says that the primary holding area at 100 Centre Street was in fact overwhelmed and that the NYPD did sweep and hose down the facility. At any rate, the Hudson River Park Trust wrote a letter, expressing "its extreme disappointment that the NYPD did not disclose certain aspects of its operations." Sounds like the Hudson River Park Trust doesn't want to get dragged into any lawsuits from detained prisoners! This comes as a judge is looking into the detention tactics used by the police; Gothamist would say more about this NY Times article, but we got a little dizzy trying to figure out some of the legalities. We really need to go to law school and not rely on TV courtroom dramas for our law education.

And since there's nothing like an anti-war protest in NYC, various city politicians and anti-war groups are planning a protest on March 19 - ideally in Central Park. Protest group Troops Out Now referred to the problems with protesting in Central Park last summer by saying:

We applied for the permit very early, so that if there is a problem getting a permit we have plenty of time to deal with that problem. Whether if it's by legal action, whether we have to protest outside City Hall or outside Bloomberg's house, [Police Commissioner] Ray Kelly's house. Because we are going to the park one way or the other.

Gothamist has a feeling that Bloomberg's rich neighbors on the Upper East Side will be knocking on his door, begging him to give them a permit so they don't have to deal with protesters.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 20, 2005 2:27 PM

Comments [rss]

Kojak

"Yeah, the Wussies could have suffered sleep depravation, denied basic acomodations aa required by law, denied access to attorneys"

What a bummer. The NYPD should've at LEAST given out hacky sacks to keep them occupied.

S.D.

Yeah, the Wussies could have suffered sleep depravation, denied basic acomodations aa required by law, denied access to attorneys, I mean, on any given day, they should have really sucked it up, instead of being girlie-men...

As if.

Kojak

They seem to be fine to me. How long were most of them held for? The better part of the day? Were most of them even charged???

Grow up Wussies. It could've been worse

Blike Moomberg

My friend, who was not protesting, was simply running errands and he got trapped in a police blockade net, was arrested, and missed two days of work.

Remember who supported unlawful arrests of innocent passers-by: Michael R. Bloomberg.

Think about it this November in the voting booth.

nola

That place must have been a living hell...for the cops who had to deal with those unwashed brats from New Jersey.

education

try spelling protesters right, dumbass.

nah

look at all those dirty protestors...

S.D.

Amazing. At least 250,000 people protesting, 1,800 arrests and they thought it would be a "secondary" Facility?

Nuts.

I Suppose this could be CYA for The Hudson River Park Trust, but what did they expect the NYPD to do with the Space?

Impound cars? Since it looks like the Pier wasn't inspected by the State Correction Commission, does that make all imprisonment there illegal and thus the city liable?