I have been inundated with requests to post this press release. All I can say is óyeme chico, what the carajo?

Did you know that the New York City Police Department plans to put new severe restrictions on sidewalk and street use? Possibly as soon as August 24th?

The NYPD's New Rules
Under the guise of protecting the public safety, the New York City Police Department plans to expand its control over protest activity by labeling many common street and side walk uses as a "parade". If put into effect, these new rules will greatly suppress the right to assembly and expose peaceful protestors as well as regular people to arrest for things as simple as crossing the street against the light.

Under the NYPD's proposed rules:

* Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation can be arrested for parading without a permit.

* Any group of 20 or more cyclists must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD or would be subject to arrest

* Every group of 35 of more pedestrians must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD or would be subject to arrest

These rules could go into effect as soon as August 24th, 2006.

This matter is urgent. We implore all NYers to attend an important public hearing on August 23rd and contact their elected officials right away and tell them to stop the police from creating these rules. Details about the August 23rd event and how to contact your elected officials are in the side menu on the right.

Join Us In Spreading the Word!
Other websites are carrying the message of this site. We invite all other New Yorkers to help get out word of this plan, and let people know what they can do to stop it from going into effect. Blog about it, email it, comment about it on other sites, link to this site. You can use the graphic in the side menu on your site to help draw people's attention to this issue. If you blog about this issue or put the graphic on your site, and want to be listed here, let us know! You can email us at assembleforrights -at- yahoo.com.
How These Rules Will Suppress Free Speech

Parade regulation was established to regulate special non-traffic use of the streets. These rules would give the police the power to arrest and detain people for things as common as walking and biking and will essentially give the NYPD carte blanche to arrest any two or more persons they want.

These rules would quash spontaneous gatherings as people would be required to file for permits months in advance. Additionally requiring small groups to navigate the police bureaucracy and negotiate the particulars of their events: which side walk they will be on, where they will make turns, how long they will be there, is an overly high burden on our rights to assembly and speech asserted by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

In addition to protest activity the new rules will affect:

* Thousands of formal and informal runs, walks, walk-a-thons, charity runs, tours and bike rides * Thousands of routine training runs and bike rides
* School field trips
* School walks to the park
* Site seeing tours
* Historical, cultural, environmental & neighborhood walks and tours
* Funerals

More after the jump:

How To Address Concerns about Public Safety

Since the new rules were announced, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has steadfastly rationalized the rules as necessary for maintaining the public safety. Citing the NYPD's tangle with the monthly bike ride Critical Mass, Kelly says these rules are needed to insure that emergency vehicles like ambulances are able to navigate the city streets free of unlawful protest. The NYPD is fond of accusing Critical Mass bike riders of blocking emergency vehicles. Not only could this not be further from the truth, the NYPD is using Critical Mass as a red herring for promulgating new rules which will have broad effects on numerous groups and activities. They are overreaching.

We applaud the Police Commissioner for raising the issue of emergency vehicle access. But Emergency Vehicle access is a problem that has nothing to do with protests or bike rides. Every day ambulances and fire trucks sit in automobile traffic jams throughout Manhattan. It is a problem with the Department of Transportation's inability to control and manage traffic, with no mechanism other than vehicle sirens to alert automobile drivers to clear the streets. This is not a problem that will be solved by suppressing public assembly.

We believe the Mayor and NYPD and the DOT would do better to simply enforce the existing traffic rules and find ways to outfit every major street in Manhattan with a bus lane reserved for only mass transit and emergency vehicles.

Additionally, the Mayor and NYPD do not need these new rules to secure the public safety from unlawful protest. Any protesters intentionally obstructing traffic are already breaking the law, engaging in civil disobedience, and subject to arrest. However cyclists going at a normal pace should not be considered "obstructing traffic".

The Police Do Not Have The Right To Make These Rules

The Police and Mayor actually do not have the right to create these rules. This is the domain of city council. Commissioner Ray Kelly can change regulations, but he can not change statute. The Mayor and Police are only empowered to promulgate regulations to enforce the statute. The NYPD's new rules go well beyond enforcement, they seek to redefine the statute. Should the Police put these rules into effect after August 23rd the Mayor via the police department will have established law without the involvement of city council. If this comes to pass, the City Council must stand up and assert itself as the legislating body.

Get Involved!
NYCLU, Transportation Alternatives, Drum Major Institute, Time's Up, and a growing number of grassroots groups are calling on the NYPD to withdraw this plan, and if they will not, these groups want City Council to stop the NYPD. We join this chorus of voices that oppose these new rules and call on the NYPD to abandon their plan.

There is an important public hearing August 23rd, we implore people to attend. The police could begin enforcing these rules as soon as August 24th. We also implore people to find five minutes to call their elected officials, their city councilor, city council speaker Chris Quinn, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Unbelievable.

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