| 100,000 give peace of their mind
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| Anti-war activists engulf East Side streets
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More than 100,000 protesters decrying a war with Iraq converged in the bitter cold of Manhattan yesterday, jamming streets, stopping traffic and forming a mile-long river of people north of the United Nations.
Charley Richardson, 50, of Boston held a photo of his son, Joe, a Marine in the Persian Gulf, and a sign reading, "Our son is a Marine, don't send him to war for oil."
A contingent of people marched down from 149th St. and Grand Concourse in the Bronx to the subway on 125th St., fortifying themselves with scarves and gloves purchased from vendors along the way.
One marcher, Frank Frakas, 57, a social worker from the Bronx, said, "I'm an old graybeard of the anti-war movement ... I believe [the Rev.] Martin Luther King [Jr.] would be out here today."
Police efforts to contain demonstrators near the UN deteriorated well before the rally's noon start as crowds began marching across town and up the avenues as far west as Sixth Ave. Overflow from the rally clogged stretches of Second, Third and Lexington Aves.
Police and rally organizers gave widely varying estimates of the number of demonstrators, with organizers putting the number at up to 500,000.
Police officials called for a Level 4 mobilization: the largest mustering of cops. The last such mobilization was in response to the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in the Rockaways on Nov. 12, 2001.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called the rally the biggest protest in the city in recent years but said that overall it went smoothly.
"The vast majority of the people were orderly and well-behaved as they expressed their opinion, and we want to thank them for their cooperation," he said.
Traffic was snarled on the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway. Police used the Jacob Javits Center as a staging area, clogging nearby streets with vehicles.
71 arrests
There were 71 arrests stemming from the demonstration, which drew a diverse crowd that sang and waved signs in the 23-degree chill.
Throughout the day, cops in riot gear and mounted police scuffled with groups of protesters who wanted to move through closed-off side streets.
But near the UN, the scene was reminiscent of the 1960s anti-Vietnam War protests as songs of peace and love blared from the stage and college students in tie-dyed jeans mingled with the likes of the Raging Grannies, a group of white-haired ladies from Rochester.
Speakers and performers included musicians Richie Havens and Pete Seeger, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, singer Harry Belafonte, actor Danny Glover and playwright Tony Kushner.
Two people, Philip and Heather Wilhelm, both 25, of E. 51st St., carried a sign supporting President Bush, who is threatening to attack Iraq unless it disarms.
"The protesters are kind of scary," said Heather Wilhelm. "I've gotten spit on."
Spirited rallies
A raucous crowd of about 300 people, many of high school or college age, marched up Sixth Ave. from 20th St., surging off the sidewalks to evade cops. Five people locked arms to resist the police, and one was arrested.
When asked his name, the protester said, "No irrelevant questions. We're at war here."
John Barnes, 62, of Madison, Wis., a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, came with 160 students.
"I think there is a very irate reaction to the city refusing to give a march permit, and I expect some disruptive actions," he said.
The NYPD went to federal court last week to forbid demonstrators from marching, angering civil rights groups.
Late last night, civil rights lawyers said they had received numerous cell phone calls from marchers complaining they had been arrested and then detained for hours without being processed.
This story was reported by: EDWARD BARRERA, JOHNNY DWYER, MELISSA GRACE, PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY, MICHAEL SAUL, HUGH SON, BEAGAN WILCOX It was written by: PATRICE O'SHAUGHNESSY |
