Activists fight to protest at conventions

NEW YORK -- Conservative activists planning public demonstrations in Boston during the Democratic National Convention have won changes in the city's controversial permit process, but progressives who want to protest during the Republican National Convention in Manhattan are having a harder time getting official approval.

A lawsuit designed to force New York City to alter how it handles street protests went to trial last week, while a legal case with similar goals in Boston led to settlement of some issues. Not a single permit has been issued for a demonstration during the Republican convention; Boston has already approved a handful.

Boston also has designated a protest zone near the FleetCenter, site of the Democratic convention. City officials say it is possible that other protests will be allowed on Boston Common.

But New York officials have yet to say how close protesters can march to Madison Square Garden, where the Republicans will meet, and they have rejected a request to hold a major rally in Central Park. Police have suggested an alternative venue, Queens.

''We thought that was an otherworldly idea," said William Dobbs, spokesman for United For Peace and Justice, a mammoth antiwar coalition based in New York. ''It's like a hot dog without a bun. You can't have a political convention without protest, and protest is a very important piece of democracy. No one wants to create chaos, but if you don't allow protest, then you are inviting chaos, because New York is rolling out the red carpet for the Republican National Convention, but slamming the door in the faces of protesters."

Huddled in old offices still used by aging hippies in Greenwich Village and in sparse warehouses near Times Square, some left-leaning groups, ranging from AIDS activists to the Yippie Party, the anarchist group that clashed with Chicago police during 1968 Democratic convention, are planning to say their piece to Republicans. Some filed a year ago for permission to demonstrate during the convention, which is being held Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. They are still waiting for a permit.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, an antiabortion group that settled its lawsuit with the city of Boston, is now considering filing one against the city of New York.

''The process is still being played out [in Boston], and we don't know where the demonstrations are going to be," he said. ''We don't know if we will be in sight and sound of the delegates. But the system in New York is even worse than Boston. They don't even have a system. It's horrible."

Linked by the obstacles they are confronting, activist groups from opposite ends of the political spectrum are accusing the officials in both cities of trying to mute their voices.

''I don't support the Christian right," said John Penley, minister of information for New York's Cherry Pie Yippie Brigade. ''But I totally believe everybody has the right to the First Amendment, and any restrictions on the left or right concerning the First Amendment affects both sides."

Mahoney, the antiabortion activist, agreed. ''What's happening is not based on a certain liberal or conservative ideology, but both cities want to put their best foot forward and are making it extremely difficult for protesters to exercise their First Amendment rights."

Officials say they are only trying to balance the right to protest with the government's duty to protect the public. Just last week, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said credible intelligence indicates terrorists are planning a major attack on American soil in the coming months, possibly during the party conventions.

''The safety of the public must prevail, especially in these times of heightened terror warnings," said Councilman Peter Vallone, chairman of the New York City Council's Public Safety Committee.

Further complicating the situation, said Merita Hopkins, Boston's corporation counsel, is the lack of adequate public space for demonstration zones near the convention site in Boston. Critics have complained that the designated zone, which is about 750 feet from the FleetCenter, is still too far away for demonstrators to be seen and heard. Lawyers for some protesters are still concerned that Boston's permit process could also allow the city to block controversial groups from protesting.

''Boston is supposed to be one of those cities that wants you in the streets, but the [Democratic convention] wants to discourage people as much as possible from showing up," said Elly Guillette, a member of the Bl(A)ck Tea Society, an antiauthoritarian group.

In New York City, relations between protesters and the city are more tense. The mayor's office points to security issues, as well as lawn care as reasons for blocking United For Peace and Justice from rallying on the Great Lawn in Central Park the day before the convention begins.

''We are not going to issue a permit for 250,000 people for a place in Central Park that only holds 80,000 people," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ''We would be derelict in our duty to provide public safety. You could not control a crowd, and it would, if the weather was inclement, destroy an enormous investment, not in grass seed, but in all the irrigation and everything else that we put into this park. We have other venues so that people can protest, and what we have to do in this city is to make sure that people have a right to protest . . . and people that want to go about their business without protesting, they have rights too."

Dobbs said United for Peace is still negotiating with police on how close protesters can get to Madison Square Garden. Police have suggested a route that runs near Madison Square Garden, but not directly in front of the arena.

Some groups in New York say they have nearly given up on getting permits. The city denied the Yippies' request to camp out in the city parks, so they are organizing a rally outside the Republican mayor's official mansion.

''There are two models the city can take: They can follow the Miami model in 1972, when only a few people were arrested, or the Chicago 1968 model, and nobody wants that, a Chicago situation," said Aron Kay, a Yippie known for throwing pies at public figures.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the city is obligated to ensure protesters can demonstrate. The organization's lawsuit against the city contends that tactics police used during antiwar demonstrations in 2003, such as blocking protesters with horses and barricades, will be used during the convention this summer.

''When the Republicans come to town, it's not just the Republicans; it's the Republicans and those who love them and those who hate them," Lieberman said. ''This is an important election, a hotly contested election with political feelings running very, very high, and that makes it all the more important that the city makes sure it provides the right to protest. Of course, there is an overlay of national security concern whenever the president comes to town, and that is always a factor, but national security cannot glibly be invoked to stifle protest."