Quote:
Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
[1] ...I've actually been very impressed with the crowd/protest control I've seen here in NYC. Big (impropomptu march to the UN the night Bush I started bombing in Gulf War I - closed Broadway through most of Manhattan for hours - definitely no permits...
[2] Gotta say, I'm pretty iffy on letting protestors block roads or otherwise disrupting normal-traffic/life/access, it's just not necessary to make people aware of your message.
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Closing Broadway through most of Manhattan is sorta what I'm talking about. If someone wants to block traffic at rush hour just for the sake of blocking traffic at rush hour, they deserve to have their head smashed in (back off Mr. Google, figure of speech). But marching, such that streets need to be blocked off, even for hours at a time, is entirely reasonable (in contrast to blocking streets for the sake of blocking streets). Additionally, if you just have a massive crowd (rare), why not let them have a street or two on a saturday, even downtown?
In the example you note, I'd guess the police really have no choice. When you get the rare massive impromptu populist demonstrations, the permit per-se shouldn't be critical, insasmuch as you have to work out reasonable terms with the leadership in the crowd anyway.
But how far south can things go when 50K New Yorkers show up on a street to protest violence and war?
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