GOP Convention Security Perimeter Could Extend for Blocks

Sara Kugler, Associated Press

New York — Midtown Manhattan could be locked down around Republican
convention headquarters for blocks in each direction, officials said
Tuesday, closing major avenues and forcing nearby residents and workers to
show identification during the four-day event.The tentative security plan for the GOP convention also could thwart at
least one major demonstration at which anti-war protesters plan to march
past convention headquarters, at Madison Square Garden. That protest is
scheduled for Aug. 29, the day before the convention begins.

The director of convention operations, Mike Miller, told reporters in a
briefing Tuesday that the Secret Service and city police department would
sweep the area and lock it down Friday or Saturday.

Nearly 20 groups have contacted the police department about permits that
would allow them to march and rally outside the convention and at other
sites around the city. More are expected before a June 15 deadline.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said police want to accommodate peaceful
demonstrations. Department spokesman Paul Browne said Tuesday that the
security measures, though still being drafted, did not include plans to
close major thoroughfares.

But Miller said that Seventh and Eighth avenues were likely to be closed
at times and that the boundary "won't be measured in terms of feet or
yards, probably in blocks."

A spokesman for the group planning the anti-war march, Bill Dobbs, said he
was surprised to learn that streets might be closed. He said protest
organizers have been frustrated by conflicting information from various
agencies, including convention, police and city officials.

"It raises questions about who precisely is in charge," Dobbs said. "If
this is true, it signals that the city and federal officials are working
overtime to accommodate the (Republican National Convention) and doing
little to ensure constitutional rights to protest."

His group, United for Peace and Justice, plans to gather at 23rd Street,
march up Eighth Avenue and then rally at Central Park. It is appealing the
recent denial of its park permit; the march permit is pending.

Office workers and people who live nearby will have to show ID or indicate
in some way that they need to gain access at the outer perimeter, Miller
said.

Another boundary closer to Madison Square Garden — in the form of a fence
or other physical barrier — will have checkpoints where convention
credentials will be required, he said. At convention entrances, people
will then have to pass through magnetic and X-ray screeners.

City officials have said Pennsylvania Station, which is partly underneath
Madison Square Garden, will not be closed during the convention. Trains
will be monitored by police officers and dogs.

Several subway lines pass through or near the station, and some entrances
might be closed, Miller said.

Also Tuesday, convention planners discussed the designs being considered
for the convention stage. They have killed the idea announced last
December of a rotating stage in the center of the floor, opting instead
for a round central platform that does not move.

Miller suggested that a more traditional stage at one end of the floor
might also be used, or some combination of the two. Either way, the
convention floor will be raised about 10 feet, leaving space below for
holding rooms and other backstage-like operations.

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