I survived the Republican National Convention unscathed.
I walked through a couple of protests and survived.
Tuesday Aug 31, I ended up walking into a protest. Don't ask how I didn't notice. I was on my merry way after work. I was walking on 34th - even stopped to by an ice cream cone. Why should the RNC stop me from enjoying life as I usually know it? As I approached Broadway I noticed a line up of police vehicles and a line up of cops in their riot gear..wasn't sure what was going on. All of a sudden I hit Victoria Secret and am greeted by a sea of people. They seemed to have appeared out of thin air...lots of protestors blocking my path home. The cops also put up metal street barricades so we were unable to cross Broadway where Macy's stood. The subway entrance was blocked so you could not avoid the crowd by passing underground. I had no where to turn because I was already stuck in a sandwich of people. I had no choice but push my way through to the end of the block on 35th where it seemed to end. It brought flashbacks to when I attended a Yankee tickertape parade. I witnessed an argument between a bypasser and a demonstrator. The bypasser was enraged that he could not pass because of an illegal demonstration. The protester was enraged because the city refused to issue a pass so they could demonstrate. He told the passerby that they had the right to peaceful assembly. The passerby said that he had the right to be able to walk on the street and get home without all this. Good thing it did not end up in a brawl or else I probably would have had an elbow or more in my face. There was pretty much chaos for a bit...but once I made it past the crowd - I was home free up to 9th avenue. Except there was a police road block on the East End of 9th Avenue so I had to walk across to the west end of 9th ave for 1 block and walk back across to get to my apartment. I don't know which was worse - getting stuck in a mass amount of people or having to walk through hell and high water just to get home...and ofcourse having to flash ID once I got there.
The next day Wed Sept 1 - I was walking to work and I saw another demonstration - this one more quiet and subtle. Apparently they were lined up in a single file from Wall Street to 34th Street. When I saw them they had only made it to 27th street. They were all holding up a pink flyer representing a "Pink Slip" for all the jobs lost during the Bush Administration.
Thursday Sept 2 was the last day of the convention when Bush made his speech. I had gone to Union Square to watch a free movie screening. The Park was a bustle with people - all protesting activities...people selling anti bush anti war pins, etc. People singing. People lots of people. You knew something was set to happen but I wasn't sure what. It felt very electrified and active. Cops were waiting around as well, because I think they knew something was going to happen and they had to control it. After the movie, it looked like more people gathered at Union Square. It was about 9:15pm. Union square is never that busy. We were going to get something to eat. On the sidewalk in chalk was written something like "Scream Bush No More at 9:30." I wasn't sure what that meant - were all these people at Union Square going to scream at the same time? I wanted to hear or see...but I didn't hear anything and 9:30 passed. After eating I had gone to my friend's house. He has a veranda that looks out onto 6th Avenue...it was about 10:30pm when we heard a lot of noise. We looked out and there was a sea of demonstrators chanting "Bush No More" walking along 15th Street. The cops were prepared...they had lined up on the North and South Side of the street blocking traffic so that these protestors could pass. Was this a legal protest? If it wasn't why didn't the cops stop them instead of making a path for them? Were there too many people to stop? It was the strangest thing I had seen to see all these cars stopped in their path because of a human cop barricade so the people could walk through. I think it was not legal because they would probably have set up road blocks prior like they do for parades. So I guess that was what the message was for - it was a call for all the protestors to get together at 9:30. I admire the way they organized all these protests. It's a lot of effort. And for the most part, the cops were pretty good at keeping the peace, although they did go on an arresting rampage the 1st couple of days.
I went out to a bar that night, and when I got home at about 3am my street barricade was lifted and I was able to walk onto my block from 9th avenue (because 8th was still blocked) without having to show ID. I felt relief. I felt HAPPY. Cops were still around but they no longer had to pay attn to me. I could not wipe the grin off my face walking up to my apartment. It was finally over and I survived it all.
Now lies the election ahead of us and I only hope the best man survives.
