[IMC-NYC-Editorial] Fwd: [radicalref] Question: SECOND CALL Pier 57 and the RNC

[Matt Wasserman]

According to radical reference librarians, Pier 57 was leased by the 
NYPD. However, as the NYPD paid money for it and the RNC provided the 
city with money for security, a case can be made that the RNC 
indirectly financed the lease.
                                                           --Matt

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Indy Matthew" <indymatthew001 at yahoo.com>
> Date: September 16, 2004 8:15:01 AM PDT
> To: wassermm at reed.edu
> Subject: FW: [radicalref] Question: SECOND CALL Pier 57 and the RNC
>
> Matt,
> This is a better answer, and I've updated the website:
>
> The Portland IMC link in the question posted here leads to a letter 
> from a
> person named Erin Starr, from Hawaii, who's daughter was arrested 
> during the
> RNC. She writes "My husband called the NYPD to ask who had issued a
> Certificate of Occupancy or Fire Safety Inspection Certificate and who
> wasmanaging Pier 57. He was given the number for the Republican 
> National
> Committee. Yes. My husband and I looked at each other in silent, cold
> horror. In America?" This may just have been a mistake on the part of 
> the
> switchboard.
>
> On the other hand, we do know that the Republican Party provided the 
> city
> with money for security. Was some of this money used to lease Pier 57? 
> Or
> did the Republican Party lease it?
>
> I called the Hudson River Park Trust just now (10:30 AM Thursday, 
> September
> 16th, 2004). The man I spoke with said Pier 57 was leased to the NYPD
> sometime in August and ended last week. He didn't have specific dates 
> in
> front of him, and I didn't press further.
>
> If the police had to pay to use the pier, then a case could be made 
> that
> security money provided by the Republicans financed the Pier 57 
> detention
> center, quite a different thing from the RNC actually renting it out 
> for the
> NYPD. The more significant point in all of this is Pier 57 itself, and 
> the
> fact that it existed at all, the health concerns there, etc. We know 
> that
> the Republicans provided security money, and that is also a significant
> detail, because it can be construed that police tactics were a 
> response to
> the investment of the RNC in security, which turned into something 
> quite
> different from security during the convention, as many would argue.
>
> For further information or documentation, contact:
>
> Permit Office
> Hudson River Park Trust
> Pier 40
> W. Houston Street
> 2nd floor
> (phone 212-627-2020)
> permits at hrpt.state.ny.us
>
> Thanks to Lisa and Ben, who did the original work for this question.
>
> Matthew
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Indy Matthew [mailto:indymatthew001 at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:49 AM
> To: 'wassermm at reed.edu'
> Subject: FW: [radicalref] Question: SECOND CALL Pier 57 and the RNC
>
> Matt,
> So sorry we didn't answer this sooner, and perhaps you have already 
> found
> your answer.  Read below and on the website, several people worked on 
> this
> question.
> Thanks!
> Matthew
> http://radicalreference.info
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Indy Matthew [mailto:indymatthew001 at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:28 AM
> To: radicalref at ccwpsandiego.org
> Subject: RE: [radicalref] Question: SECOND CALL Pier 57 and the RNC
>
> I called the Hudson River Park Trust just now.  The man I spoke with 
> said
> Pier 57 was leased to the NYPD sometime in August and ended last week. 
>  He
> didn't have specific dates.
>
> For further information or documentation, contact:
>
> Permit Office
> Hudson River Park Trust
> Pier 40
> W. Houston Street
> 2nd floor
> (phone 212-627-2020)
> permits at hrpt.state.ny.us
>
> Be prepared to identify yourself.  The man I spoke to was curious 
> about why
> I was asking questions.  I told him I was a volunteer librarian at the
> Radical Reference website, and was researching a question for a patron.
>
> Thanks to Lisa and Ben, who did the work for this question.  I will be
> posting this answer along with the information they provided.
>
> Matthew
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lisa Abbott [mailto:corpkitten at hotmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 3:54 PM
> To: radicalref at ccwpsandiego.org
> Subject: Re: [radicalref] Question: SECOND CALL Pier 57 and the RNC
>
> I'm not in NYC so maybe this is already widely known, but Pier 57 is 
> part of
>
> the Hudson River Park Trust:
> http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/about/pier57.html.  They own the piers 
> and
> rent them out to various tenants or supply event permits for short-term
> gatherings. The trust is a collaboration between the state of NY and 
> NYC --
> not a private company.  They should be able to tell you who held the 
> permit
> for Pier 57 during the RNC:
>
> Permit Office
> Hudson River Park Trust
> Pier 40
> W. Houston Street
> 2nd floor
> (phone 212-627-2020)
> permits at hrpt.state.ny.us
>
> It would also be interesting to hear who the insurance policy holder 
> was for
>
> the event (permits require Commercial General Liability Insurance 
> coverage
> of a minimum of $1million single limit per occurrence) and who paid the
> bill.
>
> And if this already known information, all apologies.  I'm in a 
> Michigan
> backwater and somewhat out of the loop...
>
> Lisa
>
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