Subject: Re: [lpny_manhattan] Re: press release/protest idea : Context
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 13:14:21 -0400
To:        <lpny_manhattan@yahoogroups.com>
From:     Bob Armstrong <bob@cosy.com>

 Here's the context of the argument of the City against use of=
 the Great Lawn .
 
  Note , I think  that the RNC convention is likely to be the=
 greatest event
  of civil disobedience both "lawful" and unlawful since the=
 Democratic
  convention in Chicago in 1968 which , while some friends of=
 mine were in
  the tumult , gassed and arrested , I was off climbing in the=
 Tetons .

--- Original Message ---
From: "starQuest" <starquest@nycivic.org>
To: =A0<bob@cosy.com>
Sent: 15 May 2004 04:09:52 -0000
Subject: Watch your Grass

>=A0Kiss Your Grass Goodbye
>=A0If Protesters Swarm Lawn
>
>=A0By Henry J. Stern
>=A0May 14, 2004
>
>=A0Central Park, the best-known green space in the world as we=
 know it, is once again
>=A0under assault.
>
>=A0Over the last hundred and fifty years, the great park has=
 bravely borne periodic
>=A0inappropriate incursions resulting in temporary encroachments.=
 In most cases, those
>=A0who seek to misuse the park are well intentioned, and sincerely=
 believe that the
>=A0particular intrusion they support will serve the public=
 interest and not injure the
>=A0greensward. They are usually in error.
>
>=A0The latest threat to the park is a proposal by a group called=
 =93United for Peace and
>=A0Justice.=94 One must respect the imagination of those who have=
 organized radical front
>=A0groups over the years for the ingenuity of their ever changing=
 nomenclature. Old hands
>=A0like Leslie Cagan have lost none of their touch. All three=
 major words in the group=92s
>=A0name, an adjective (in this case) and two nouns, represent good=
 things, which decent
>=A0people support.
>
>=A0UPJ wants to use the Great Lawn for a rally protesting the=
 Republican National
>=A0Convention, which will be held in New York City from August 30=
 to September 2. The
>=A0date they propose is August 29, a summer Sunday when the park=
 would normally be
>=A0enjoyed by fifty thousand or more citizens, depending on the=
 weather.
>
>=A0We all know that any decision on permits for political events=
 must be content-neutral. It
>=A0doesn't matter what it is the applicants want to endorse or=
 protest, how long we have
>=A0known them, or whether we like their views or not. Both Rush=
 Limbaugh and Al
>=A0Franken must be treated alike, as they deserve.
>
>=A0That having been said, we proceed to discuss the=
 appropriateness of the particular site
>=A0which has been sought, the Great Lawn of Central Park. Both the=
 City of New York and
>=A0Parks &=A0Recreation are prepared to offer alternate sites in a=
 large park or public place.
>=A0The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, but not the=
 right for hundreds of
>=A0thousands of people to gather anywhere they desire anytime they=
 choose.
>
>=A0The Great Lawn of Central Park is a special place, very=
 different today than it was in
>=A01982, when a large anti-nuclear rally was held there. Let me=
 explain why this is so. The
>=A0lawn and its surrounds were completely made over by an $18.2=
 million restoration,
>=A0funded by the City of New York and by the Central Park=
 Conservancy, which since its
>=A0founding a generation ago, has raised an incredible $270=
 million in private gifts for a
>=A0public park, with Richard Gilder contributing $17 million in a=
 challenge grant for the
>=A0restoration of the park.
>
>=A0The lawn project, which took over two years to complete,=
 includes underground
>=A0drainage, surface irrigation, substantial new topsoil and=
 Kentucky bluegrass cover. It
>=A0transformed a battered, dried out area into an extraordinary=
 green island for the public
>=A0to enjoy. It was much more than a restoration, because the old=
 lawn never was like the
>=A0lawn we enjoy today.
>
>=A0The Great Lawn is a 13-acre oval area just north of Turtle=
 Pond, mid-park between
>=A080th and 85th streets, and bounded by a half-mile hex-block=
 pathway. Ninety-two trees
>=A0grow on the lawn, including American and English elms, red and=
 sugar maples, four
>=A0varieties of oaks: pin oaks, red oaks, white oaks and one burr=
 oak. Flowering trees
>=A0abound, including four crabapples and 24 cherry trees. Eleven=
 silver lindens and two
>=A0little leaf lindens adorn the lawn with their classic beauty.=
 Dogs, noble creatures that
>=A0they are, are not allowed on this lawn, because Parks wants=
 small children to be free
>=A0to crawl on the grass, without their parents having to worry=
 about humans' litter or
>=A0animals' deposits. Today, the lawn is intended to be a=
 sanctuary for the gentlest among
>=A0us. But this was not always the case.
>
>=A0For many years after World War II, for lack of lawn and soil=
 maintenance, and for want
>=A0of city dollars for capital restoration, the lawn, the pond and=
 their borders had
>=A0degenerated into a large dust bowl and silted mudflat. The=
 lawn's highly compacted soil
>=A0made it impossible for its surface to absorb rainwater, which=
 led to erosion as the
>=A0runoff water clogged the catchbasins on both sides of the lawn.=
 This resulted in even
>=A0minor showers flooding the lawn and the pathways that border=
 it, creating small ponds.
>=A0The meager green cover that did survive, which consisted=
 primarily of the hardiest of
>=A0weeds, was repeatedly trampled into the dirt. The lawn was a=
 public embarrassment.
>
>=A0The last two events held on the old lawn were the premiere of=
 the Disney movie
>=A0Pocahontas, on June 10, 1995, and Pope John Paul II's visit on=
 October 7, 1995. The
>=A0Disney event was the first for which the City demanded and=
 received one million
>=A0dollars from the sponsors, half of which was used for Central=
 Park restoration, and half
>=A0for parks around the city which cannot generate revenue on=
 their own. The opening
>=A0was a major public event, showing that the park was safe at=
 night. The Pope=92s mass
>=A0held in Central Park was inspiring to the many thousands who=
 attended. It was
>=A0reasonable and proper to use the area for those events, because=
 the lawn was great in
>=A0name only, there was nothing left to destroy.
>
>=A0Later that October, the City closed the area and, with the help=
 of the Central Park
>=A0Conservancy, began the most extensive renovation project in the=
 park's history. It took
>=A0many months to remove the broken-up asphalt pathways that=
 surrounded the lawn,
>=A0and to dredge the clogged Turtle Pond of 3,000 cubic yards of=
 sediment, which was
>=A0soil that had washed away from the oval over the years. Before=
 the dredging, hundreds
>=A0of turtles, weighing up to 45 pounds, were carefully moved to=
 new abodes in the nearby
>=A0Lake.
>
>=A0Then 25,000 cubic yards of topsoil, specially engineered to=
 resist compaction, were
>=A0placed over the old lawn area, and 10,000 linear feet (almost=
 two miles) of drainage
>=A0lines were laid several feet below the new lawn surface. An=
 additional 10,000 linear feet
>=A0of drainage lines were placed deep below the lawn in order to=
 release water trapped
>=A0underground from the old Croton Reservoir that occupied the=
 site from the 1840' s until
>=A0it was drained in 1931. The lawn, built on the reservoir site,=
 was completed in 1936 by
>=A0Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. At that time the area was not=
 marked for softball
>=A0fields, athletics not being permitted there until 1950, when=
 eight diamonds were built.
>
>=A0Although the old reservoir was drained seventy-three years ago,=
 its stone walls were
>=A0not removed. They remain today, at one point marked by a=
 historical sign where they
>=A0emerge from underground west of the lawn. Some of the reservoir=
 water is said to be
>=A0still embedded under the lawn. Without the deep drainage lines=
 just installed, this
>=A0seepage could create sinkholes after severe rainfall,=
 undermining the effort to stabilize
>=A0the lawn. To insure that the new sod will remain irrigated and=
 produce deep roots that
>=A0would anchor it firmly in the lawn, 11,000 linear feet of=
 irrigation lines were installed just
>=A0below the surface, with 275 pop-up sprinkler heads.
>
>=A0The new lawn was planted with five varieties of Kentucky=
 bluegrass, with a sprinkling of
>=A0perennial rye. This is done to avoid a monoculture, because if=
 one variety were
>=A0attacked by disease or blight, the lawn would be destroyed. To=
 give the roots a chance
>=A0to penetrate nine inches deep into the sandy loam topsoil, the=
 lawn was closed to the
>=A0public for nine months. If the roots were not anchored in this=
 way, a person who slid on
>=A0the lawn could move the sod like a bad hairpiece. The lawn was=
 opened in fall 1997 for
>=A0passive recreation, and in spring l998 for more active use=
 (primarily Little League
>=A0baseball and softball.)
>
>=A0The result of this extensive, expensive and time-consuming=
 restoration is more than a
>=A0lawn; it is an ecosystem. The amount of wear the grass can=
 safely tolerate is carefully
>=A0measured by experts in horticulture. In their view,=
 philharmonic and opera concerts can
>=A0be held four times a year. In the six years that the new lawn=
 has been open, there was
>=A0one ticketed entertainment event, which caused considerable=
 damage to patches of
>=A0the sod. It should not be repeated.
>
>=A0The seating capacity of the Great Lawn, as measured by concert=
 attendance, is
>=A060,000. The standing capacity ranges up to 85,000, but so many=
 people standing
>=A0cheek by jowl would be devastating to the grass they tread on=
 for hours. Park officials
>=A0believe that a crowd of over 75,000 would be excessive for the=
 space.
>
>=A0The estimate of attendance for the rally proposed for August 29=
 is 250,000. Many
>=A0people will have traveled to New York from all over the country=
 and abroad for the
>=A0occasion. The estimate could be exceeded as tension builds=
 before the event, which
>=A0may be viewed world-wide as the climactic demonstration of the=
 American resistance.
>
>=A0The officially estimated attendance at the anti-nuclear rally=
 in 1982 was 600,000. We
>=A0know that these figures are substantially exaggerated by=
 promoters and advocates in
>=A0order to overstate the success of their client or their cause,=
 but if the actual attendance
>=A0in 2004 is even one-third of the 1982 estimate, the enormous=
 crowd would create a
>=A0highly destructive situation for the park and its plants. If=
 the police closed the park
>=A0because of overcrowding, those excluded would back up on Fifth=
 Avenue and Central
>=A0Park West, expressing their displeasure and blocking traffic by=
 their sheer numbers.
>=A0This would create a situation that would very likely lead to=
 violence, which is
>=A0sometimes the desire of a few or more of the demonstrators or=
 organizers of the
>=A0event.
>
>=A0Even if everyone behaves, the large number of people there=
 would cause serious and
>=A0costly injury on the Great Lawn, necessitating its closure to=
 public use for a period of
>=A0some months to a year to allow the grass, which would have to=
 be replanted, to
>=A0establish new roots. In addition, the overflow that would seek=
 to attend (possibly twice
>=A0as many as those who could fit on the lawn) would overwhelm=
 neighboring areas of the
>=A0park, disturbing the aquatic habitat surrounding Turtle Pond,=
 trampling grass, injuring
>=A0saplings, breaking branches off trees for better vision, and=
 leaving tons of litter. The
>=A0crowd would undoubtedly be far too large for the narrow=
 pathways to accommodate,
>=A0so the greensward would bear the brunt of the invasion. This=
 destruction of parkland
>=A0has nothing to do with the character of the participants, the=
 worst damage for the park
>=A0having occurred at an Earth Day rally in 1991, presumably=
 attended by ardent
>=A0conservationists.
>
>=A0Another aspect of this situation is that, if one rally is=
 permitted to be held on the Great
>=A0Lawn, Parks will be unable to deny future permits to any other=
 group which seeks to
>=A0use the site. The federal courts are relatively strict on the=
 issue of equal protection of
>=A0the laws, as well as First Amendment claims, whether they are=
 eventually upheld or
>=A0not. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for the city to=
 defend a position that certain
>=A0rallies, but not others, are to be permitted on the Great Lawn.=
 It would be totally
>=A0impossible for the city to raise private funds to help restore=
 an area of the park which is
>=A0periodically permitted to be destroyed.
>
>=A0Fortunately, alternate sites are available where citizens can=
 gather in large numbers to
>=A0express their views. The Manhattan location most widely used=
 for public gatherings is
>=A0Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations. It=
 stretches from First to
>=A0Second Avenue, south of 47th Street, which can be closed off.=
 For any overflow,
>=A0surrounding streets are available and have been used in the=
 past for that purpose. The
>=A0surface is paved, except for the Katharine Hepburn Garden,=
 which would have to be
>=A0screened off. That park would not be damaged by a large crowd.
>
>=A0If the demonstrators prefer more open space, Flushing=
 Meadows-Corona Park would
>=A0be a reasonable site. The New York City building in the park=
 (erected for the 1939-40
>=A0World=92s Fair and now used by the Queens Museum of Art and the=
 World's Fair Ice
>=A0Skating Rink) was an early home of the United Nations General=
 Assembly, before the
>=A0UN headquarters in Manhattan was built. (If you didn=92t know,=
 the first meeting of the
>=A0General Assembly was held in Central Hall, Westminster, London,=
 on January 10,
>=A01946.) The partition of the area of the British Mandate over=
 Palestine (territory that had
>=A0been taken from the Ottoman Empire after World War I) that led=
 to the creation of the
>=A0State of Israel was approved by the General Assembly in=
 Flushing Meadows Park on
>=A0November 29, 1947, a fact which United for Peace and Justice=
 may, or may not,
>=A0appreciate.
>
>=A0If anyone should fear that the combined weight of the=
 protesters will cause the parkland
>=A0to sink lower than the adjacent shoreline of Willow Lake, a=
 body of water created by
>=A0Moses, the Commissioner, for the First World=92s Fair, they need=
 not be alarmed. The
>=A0events that took place in the Red Sea thousands of years ago=
 are highly unlikely to
>=A0transpire today, despite the historic and geographic resonance=
 that one may infer.
>
>=A0The First Amendment gives all Americans the right to protest=
 the actions of their
>=A0government, a right unavailable in many countries throughout=
 the world. The
>=A0Constitution does not, however, give organizers of mass=
 demonstrations the
>=A0unrestricted right to choose a site which will result in=
 substantial destruction of public
>=A0property, particularly living things which take years to grow,=
 when other sites are readily
>=A0available.
>
>=A0We are proud of our civil liberties. We enjoy the unusual=
 beauty and delicacy of Central
>=A0Park. With good judgment, we can have both, without damage to=
 either.
>
>=A0Henry J. Stern
>=A0starquest@nycivic.org
>=A0=A0New York Civic
>=A0520 Eighth Avenue
>=A0=A022nd Floor
>=A0New York, NY 10018
>
>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0(212) 564-4441
>=A0=A0=A0=A0(212) 564-5588 (fax)
>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0www.nycivic.org

--=A0
=A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864
Computing Environment : =A0http://CoSy.com/CoSy/
A WTC vision : http://CoSy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/

Badnarik , Libertarian for President=A0=A0:=
 http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm
=A0=A0=A0For Senator from NY : http://www.silbergerforsenator.org/
=A0=A0WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES INCARCERATE A LARGER PERCENTAGE,
AND A LARGER NUMBER, OF ITS CITIZENS THAN ANY OTHER NATION ON=
 EARTH?=A0
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02004/06/24 1:05:17 PM