New York City's Union Square continues to struggle for its identity amidst conflict between law enforcement agencies, public protesters, and cultural and recreational activities.
by Joshua Weiner
I grew up in Southern California. The only public park within bicycle range of the average 11 year old boy, which featured a grove of majestic and endangered Coastal Live Oak, was bulldozed under to make way for a golf course. As a result, my concept of public space was limited to shopping malls. It wasn't until I had spent several years in New York City, and began 
to take photographs in Union Square, that I became aware of what was meant by "public space" and how its use by the populace could become a political and legal issue.
My first real exposure to public speaking was during college in Ohio where a biblical literalist preacher named Brother Jed set up camp in the town square. I have never seen anything like the itinerant preacher, who saw himself as the spiritual heir of the protestant tent revivalists as he pulled into town in a RV, unloaded his extensive collection of children and started haranguing sinners out for a walk in the last few warm days of fall. Within 30 minutes he had a large crowd which listened, argued, and spent the afternoon with his modern revival. Ironically enough, the next time I’d see this kind of situation it would be centered on a long haired Marxist in New York City.
I hadn't taken much personal interest in Union Square in terms of the daily use of the park by various groups until I changed offices from West 57th Street to the Chelsea Market, a 15 minute walk from the park. Since it was a nice walk to my train to take me back home, I started stopping in the park and eventually photographing the people there. In the spring of 2004 I began to collect a series of photographs of passers-by, street musicians, a hip-hop dance troupe, and the main subject of this essay, The No Police State Coalition, as well as
the monthly bicyclist awareness event, Critical Mass.
There are a number of other public spaces in the city which have been used by groups for political and social events; however, Union Square is a much more immediate public forum due to its small size and location above a major subway intersection. Times Square, Penn Station, and Grand Central are the other large transportation hubs, but unlike Union Square, they lack the public space that the park above the subway station provides. The large, open concrete area on the south end of the park comes up from street level to the foot of the statue of George Washington in a series of steps which creates a natural auditorium. Only the central and south end of the park is used by the public.
Since the 70's, Union Square has gone from being a park largely populated by skaters and drug dealers to becoming an upscale gateway to downtown Manhattan starting with efforts by 
former mayor Ed Koch in the mid-80’s to clean up the area. Upscale restaurants and upscale stores replaced the head shops lining the square and the addition of a green market during the week, featuring produce from New York state farms, along with large numbers of sidewalk vendors have given an affluent air to the area.
September 11 changed the character of Union Square. After the attacks, the downtown areas of Manhattan were blockaded off for the majority of the city, so Union Square represented the closest area that people could gather. The area was turned into one of the many memorials which sprang up around the city in parks and outside of fire stations. The memorials were all unofficial and completely unorganized. With many people out of work due to the lockdown on lower Manhattan and the subway system it became an easily accessible place for people to come together. A year later the memorials returned.
The September 11 memorial was followed by the Republican National Convention, which turned the square into a continual center for public protest. The massive police presence and bitter court battles over the use of other public areas of the city, 
such as Central Park, left Union Square as one of the few remaining areas remaining for free public protest. The RNC resulted in thousands of arrests and a great deal of animosity towards the police department for what was perceived to be heavy handed treatment of protesters.
The ongoing battle between the monthly Critical Mass bicycle event and the city intensified as major arrests of Critical Mass riders kicked off the week of protests and conflict centering on the RNC; during which a number of largely anti-war protests were erected in the square as groups staged a number of speak-outs, and a traveling memorial which featured an empty pair of boots for each soldier killed in the 
Iraqi War. Even with the continual protest activities at Union Square, it remained open and relatively free of police presence compared to the lockdown around the convention site at Madison Square Garden and the extensive legal battles over the use of Central Park for rallies.
It is against these background events that the city’s relationship with The No Police State Coalition and Critical Mass unfolds. The No Police State Coalition is one of the most consistent and visible of progressive groups to use the park, and is one with an extended history of conflict with the police and courts. Frequent speak-outs organized by the coalition, as well as marches from Union Square to Tompkins Square Park, are part of the coalition’s activities to promote what they see as their absolute first amendment right to assemble. The question of permits to hold marches and the use of sound amplification equipment is a key issue for the No Police State Coalition. Many progressive groups have had similar problems with the city in gaining
access to public areas such as central park, and the issue is often framed by the groups as the city's attempts to silence their message while the city puts their refusals in terms of public safety.
Geoffrey Blank is a frequent speaker and one of the leaders of the group, The No Police State Coalition, who can speak at length on any number of progressive causes. His highly confrontation language and style has lead to his arrest on several occasions, primarily for minor charges which often turn into multiple counts of contempt of court due to his refusal to cooperate with any aspect of court proceedings. Mr. Blank presents his conflict with the city, the court system, and the police purely in terms of his political views rather than what can be seen as practical considerations which prohibit the use of sound amplification equipment in public parks or marching without a permit.
This conflict is mirrored in Critical Mass, a monthly bicycle awareness group which uses the north end of Union Square to launch its monthly mass ride through Manhattan. The aim of Critical Mass is to confront motorists with a massive contingent of riders to make them aware that they share the road. A group of over one hundred bicycles on a public street on a Friday evening during rush hour is extremely problematic 
from the perspective of a motorist...or a police officer.
One of the aims of Critical Mass is to encourage changes in the city’s structure, both physical and legal, to better serve the needs of bicyclists. The massive bike rides illustrate the city’s inability to provide for alternative forms of transportation. Following the Republican National Convention, the city has engaged in a series of lawsuits and police roundups against the event. The city claims that the group violates traffic laws, while a number of groups claim that the city is engaging in prior restraint, and a number of lawsuits have been filed against the city for violating the constitutional rights of those arrested by the city.
Both Critical Mass and the No Police State Coalition continue to operate in Union Square as they have in the past. Both 
groups are getting increasing attention from both the alternative and the mainstream press as the city government continues to react to both groups' activities. The conflict continues to focus on what is seen by the groups as their absolute first amendment rights to participate in a public area and the city’s need to enforce regulations for the use of that public space.
Due to a number of lawsuits and court cases, primarily surrounding mass arrests of Critical Mass riders since the Republican National Convention, the use of Union Square and other 
public areas of the city are still undefined and could change radically depending on any judgments issued from the numerous court cases. These judgments will not only affect political speech and activity in Union Square, but also cultural activities as the park also plays host to break dancers, musicians, religious sects, street merchants, and other groups which operate without a permit.
