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NYCLU Calls On Mayor To Open Central Park To Protest
The New York Civil Liberties Union has asked Mayor Bloomberg to reverse a ruling by the Parks Department to close Central Park to all large political protests. City officials have disclosed that the Great Lawn and the North Meadow are now closed to large demonstrations because of recent restoration to those areas.
The revelation came at a June 18, 2004 meeting between the NYCLU and officials from the Parks Department, the NYPD and the Law Department. City officials also said that in the future, all of Central Park would be closed to large demonstrations.
In a letter from the NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman and Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, the NYCLU called upon Mayor Bloomberg to reverse this policy that previously had not been publicly disclosed. The letter objects to the exclusion of political protests from the park and notes that the City continues to allow large cultural events to take place in Central Park. Just days before the June 18 meeting, for instance, the City allowed the Metropolitan Opera to stage a performance of Madame Butterfly on the Great Lawn that the Parks Department reported was attended by 40,000 people.
The letter notes that “Closing Central Park to political protests would mark a dangerous departure from this City’s proud tradition of public spaces being used for demonstrations.” The letter also explains that forcing large demonstrations on to City streets substantially burdens protest activity because rallies may be stretched over miles of pavement. Event participants may end up far from the stage and in “pens” routinely used by the NYPD at large events on City streets.
Click here to read the NYCLU's letter to Mayor Bloomberg.