Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WAR Protests Drug Pushers Attending Windhover Conference in NYC

Demo #1: Marriott Downtown – 85 West Street

Three activists arrived at the swanky Marriott Downtown, where the Windhover Pharmaceutical Strategic Alliances Conference played host to drug company kingpins from all across the USA. The registration fee for the conference was listed as $1,995.00 per individual and rooms at the Marriott ran in excess of $500.00 per room per night. These people obviously aren’t feeling the economic pinch like most of the rest of us.

Several New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, from the 1st Precinct, sat around shooting the bull beside a barricade that had not been erected. With close to 3 officers to every protester, seems like they felt the barricade wasn’t necessary. Protesters held signs, distributed leaflets and held a large banner. Conference registrants leaving the hotel for an off-site cocktail party had been notified that a protest was planned for that evening and they were pleased at the small, quiet protest at the Marriott.

Demo #2: Bayard's - One Hanover Square

At 5:45pm protesters walked to Hanover Square to Bayard’s Restaurant in the landmark India House, home of Harry’s of Hanover Square, a Wall Street icon. Activists lined up across the street from the restaurant, so that conference participants could get a better look at the posters of bloody mutilated animals while they sipped their cocktails and watched the demonstration from the steps in front of Bayard’s. The variety of graphic posters gave evidence of the abuses going on at Huntingdon Life Sciences where 500 animals every day are brutally killed to test products like toothpaste and tanning lotion.

As more and more activists joined the demonstration, the restauranteurs became increasingly agitated especially when protest continued through the dinner hour. Large burly bouncers tried unsuccessfully to intimidate the protesters. This only caused the protest to become louder and longer. Although the initial plan was to stay only until the party-goers were all inside, the level of animosity and antagonism, especially from management of Harry’s Bar, caused the protesters to stay until the party was over at 8:00 pm.

A different contingent from NYPD’s 1st precinct arrived and attempted to stop the protest under the guise that there was no “Protest Permit”. After explaining to the officers that a permit was not required, the officers then changed their story to “the precinct had not been notified of the protest”. A faxed notification along with time and date stamp was produced giving proof to the appropriate notification. The police officer involved then decided that the faxed notification wasn’t enough. When that gambit didn’t work, protesters were threatened with arrest for being loud. This failed to stop the protest and then a woman police officer threatened arrest because activists had backpacks on the curbside of the sidewalk.

Finally, better judgement prevailed. The Precinct Commander arrived on the scene and after a brief conversation with the protest organizer, the protest was allowed to continue unabated.

The protest was well received by the neighborhood. Many residents of the area came by with the dogs to find out what it was all about. One of them was doing a photographic essay on the Wall Street area and she stayed for quite some time to photograph the event. Many flyers were given directly to the conference attendees and activists were gratified when a couple leaving Bayard’s stopped and thanked the protesters for standing up for the animals. It was an excellent opportunity for educational outreach in a neighborhood that is home to the New York Stock Exchange and many of the most important market makers.