OJC brief on Anti-war demonstrationsLizzie called me just now from the middle of the NYC march. Cellphones change the balance and rhythm of the whole global protest thing, that's for sure. I sit in my house, but I can hear the drums, the chants, and feel the excitement of the march. The horse police had to withdraw--there were too many people. Here's some briefs from NYC indymedia

FEB 15 CONVERGENCE Feb 15 2003 Breaking News ... Please bear with our website as we handle the traffic. We will keep you updated with breaking news from around the city throughout the day. 1:43 First avenue is reported to be completely inacccessible-- people who want to get there to protest cannot. 2nd avenue is full wall to wall in the 60's. We are hearing reports that the police on 3d avenue have given up, though this isn't confirmed. 1:37 A smaller group of people made it out of the 51st / 3d Avenue pen and were herded north on 2nd avenue. It is a diverse group. They are now being stopped by a row of mounted police on 54th st, and they cannot move north. 1:24 We have reports that portions of Second Avenue have been taken over by marchers as well. 1:23 The uptown Lexington avenue line has been stopped at 23rd street because of the protest. 1:21 Third Avenue is full from 50th to 53d street . Cars and buses have been trapped by the crowd-- there are US Postal Service vans, a service van, and taxis. Marchers have completely taken the street. 1:09 The police are putting up barriers on 53d and 3d avenue. They are throwing them to one another. There is a huge crowd of people stopped by the barriers and they are chanting "let them through, let them through." There have been several unconfirmed arrests of people trying to get over the barriers. There is a lot of pushing and shoving with the police. 1:07 There is a march occuring on 3d avenue; people are trying to get to the protest and are moving north. 1:00pm. A report just came in that 2nd Ave. is “a sea of humanity” protesters have taken over half the avenue and more people are joining from every direction. 12:41 "3rd avenue and 58th is ours!" says one caller. From 57th to 58th is completely full. There are no protest pens on third avenue. There are groups up third avenue as far north as 72nd street. 12:38 The Labor March marching from 59th street is back on the sidewalk. The police have broken it in half. 12:32 Police are making it very difficult for protesters to get to the rallly; they are requiring people to go further and further north. 12:20 The youth march has moved from 25th and 6th, under threat of arrest if anyone moves into the street. The march is 2.5 blocks long at 27th and 6th moving north. 12:00 Huge numbers of people trying to get to the rally are marching north on 3rd Ave at around 57th Street. They are filling half of the avenue. 12:14 The rally extends up 1st Ave to 61st Street, filling barricades one-traffic-lane wide, with many more people coming. The day so far: The are masses of people converging on 1st avenue, and many people cannot get there, so they are stuck over on 2nd and 3rd ave. There was also a confrontation between police and members of the Youth bloc at 24th street and 6th avenue, and there are several confirmed arrests.

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