The Republicans are coming! The Republicans are coming!
NYC is trying to figure out how to deal with the influx of Republicans, increased security and disrupted traffic and transit. Three main strategies seem to emerge:
- Get out of town
- Protest
- Simply avoid midtown
After considering volunteering for the convention (and trying to understand the mind of the hardcore Republicans), getting involved in the protests, or taking a vacation somewhere else, I realized that the most efficient option is to stick around the cityand go to classes. Of course, during that week, like many, I will be avoiding midtown, if not Manhattan entirely.
Suprisingly, I was not invited to blog this convention.
John Perry Barlow suggests Dancing in the Streets
I want to organize a cadre of 20 to 50 of us. I want to dress us in suits and other plain pedestrian attire and salt us among the sidewalk multitudes in Republican-rich zones. At a predetermined moment, one of us will produce a boom-box and crank it up with something danceable. Suddenly, about a third of the people on the sidewalk, miscellaneously distributed in the general throng, will start dancing like crazy and continue to do so for for about a minute. Then we will stop, melt back into the pedestrian flow, and go to another location to erupt there.
The NY Times reports on plans to flee: As Convention Week Nears, Many Plot Escapes
It is too early to tell, of course, how many New Yorkers will actually flee. A Quinnipiac University poll released on July 20 gave one indication, finding that 12 percent of New York City registered voters who were questioned said they would be leaving town because of the convention.
Newsday has complete convention coverage
