UPJ agree to West Side route

[cal04]

Anti-war activists have agreed to use the West Side Highway for their rally before the GOP convention, ending a tug of war with city officials that began last year, the group said Wednesday.

"We need to move on, so we decided to take the high road here," said Leslie Cagan, leader of United for Peace and Justice, at a City Hall news conference. The Aug. 29 march in Manhattan, called "The World Says No to the Bush Agenda," will begin at 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue, head uptown past convention headquarters at Madison Square Garden, turn west on 34th Street and end with a rally along the West Side Highway. Organizers have said they expect hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, in what could be the largest of more than a dozen rallies planned during the Republican National Convention.



His spokesman, Ed Skyler, said Wednesday the city was pleased about the decision. Bill Dobbs, a spokesman for the anti-war group, said that while it agreed to the city's offer to use the West Side Highway, it still has several concerns about the space and hope the compromise allows for further discussion and planning.

United for Peace and Justice is worried about access to drinking water along the highway, which has no shade and will likely be sweltering. Organizers also want to know which of the highway's lanes will be kept open for emergency vehicles. A stage at Chambers Street will face north, and the rally could extend for miles along the Hudson river thoroughfare. A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed that 75 percent of voters said the anti-war group
should have been allowed to protest in Central Park

ttp://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-upj0722,0,2888282.story?coll=nyc-homepage-headlines

[Divernan]

1. That will be a great sight to see - hope the media covers it.

nt