The City - well, the Mayor at least - welcomes the GOP to the greatest city in the world today for four days of politics. On today's schedules: Mayor Bloomberg and the Gatlin Brothers in the morning, and Mayor Giuliani and Senator John McCain, with celebrities Ron Silver and Jason Sehorn and Angie Harmon, this evening. It's like a more innocent time again, of broken-window police strategy and elephant dung being the big NYC issue, with Giuliani and former Police Commissioner in the thick of things; Newsday on Giulani's speech. Gothamist welcomes delegates and protesters alike to enjoy our fair city; play nice while you're here and play nice when you're electing a president.
And speaking of Law & Order, in the NY Times's nice "Conventiontown" insert this weekend, Dan Barry waxes about the funny concept of really knowing New York City:
If residents can be forgiven for presuming to know New York, then visitors to this city, including Republican delegates from around the country, can be forgiven for embracing a similar delusion: of thinking that they, too, know New York, based on a devotion to "Law and Order" and a three-day business trip to a Sheraton near Times Square.
And Gothamist totally digs this Red Grooms illustration for the Times. Other articles of note from Conventiontown: David Mamet on the prettified Times Square, Christopher Buckley on being red in a blue state, and Katharine Q. Seelye and Marjorie Connelly on how the delegates are more conservative than most Republicans.
Also: Tips on avoiding Madison Square Garden and Penn Station.
