At the 1968 Democratic Convention, anti-war activists were denied permits to demonstrate by the city and spent most of the week getting their skulls cracked courtesy of the Chicago Police Department, witnessed by a television audience of over 50 million. A year later, eight of the most high profile radicals – guys like Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers' Bobby Seale – were tried on charges of conspiracy and inciting riots. The courtroom was......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a residential high-rise fire on upper Broadway, a "church robbery" (! - those robbers took from the poor box!) in Queens, and a shooting in Bed-Stuy. Have you lost the Christmas spirit? If you have, read "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story", by Paul Auster-- it'll cheer you up. [Via OTBKB] James Forbes, the controversial pastor of Riverside Church, has delivered his last sermon there. He'll be embarking on a farewell......

- The NY Times reports that the Democratic party will decide on where the 2008 convention will be held either tomorrow or Monday. New York and Denver are the finalist cities; while Denver is attractive for its swing-state quality, NYC can guarantee better "financing, hotel rooms, entertainment space, logistical support and labor union cooperation." - The Politicker has the U.S. Attorney's flow chart detailing how NY Senator Efrain Gonzalez allegedly stole money from federal funds......

The NY State Democratic Convention is taking place in Buffalo today and tomorrow (the NY State Republican Convention is in Long Island on Wednesday and Thursday), and the gloves are coming off as the Democrats are looking to grab the Governor's house. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination, called the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation "an abject failure". Well, of course he would say that - didn't recently resigned LMDC......

Peter Koechley, Staff Writer, The Onion...

As everyone who has stepped outside their apartments or headed to their offices, especially ones in Midtown Manhattan, at least once since last Saturday can attest, there have been a ton of police around. Newsday has statistics that break down the NYPD's policing strategy:- 11,867 officers and supervisors worked the convention every day. ("That is more than three times larger than the number of officers ever assigned to a presidential nominating convention. It's also more......

If it's the last Monday in July of 2004, it must mean Boston is the town the country is watching, with the 2004 Democratic National Convention (official site) taking place. Presumptive Democratic nominee, John Kerry, threw out the first pitch at the Red Sox-Yankees game last night, which bounced before caught, saying, "It's the opening of the convention, it's a wonderful rivalry, and it's a great event [Gothamist thinks he's referring to the Yankees and......

The shock of all shockers: Republicans can attract lots of big donations from corporations! The G.O.P. has apparently New York Region > G.O.P. Nearing Money Record for Convention" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/17/nyregion/17convention.html?hp">raised near the record amount for a convention, from contributors like Pfizer, AT&T, and Microsoft, as well an Indian tribe that runs a casino and our own Mayor Bloomberg, who put up a cool $5 million. While the goal is for $64 million, the article states the......

The NYPD gears up for the Republican National Convention this summer: Police officers undergo a two-day training session on chemical, biological, and radiological attacks. The NYPD received $12 million in funding for the training, and 10,000 police officers will be trained, whereas before only special units were trained. Police Commissioner Kelly says, "My sense is we’re doing a lot more than other cities. I think we have to. Our belief is that the terrorists want......