So you’re on a plane headed to New York City, on final approach to the airport, when you look down and see a giant “NO MORE YEARS” and “REDEFEAT BUSH” banner on rooftop after rooftop. Liberals smile, and Republicans squirm silently in their seats.
Well, it’s a reality. Hundreds of New Yorkers have taken their own initiative to protest the upcoming RNC. Banners fly on houses, only seen by plane or helicopter. Hundreds of newspaper sized posters proclaiming, “WORLD SAYS NO TO BUSH”. It’s enough to bring a tear of joy to my eye.
Yahoo! article archived here.GOP Delegates Meet With Anti-Bush Signs
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK – In case their discontent isn’t already clear, protesters are spelling it out. “Stop Bush Now” signs and other anti-GOP messages are appearing throughout the city well before delegates arrive for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.
Bright blue tarps, painted with glaring yellow letters, are going up on dozens of rooftops in Brooklyn, under the flight paths into busy New York airports. Thousands of delegates and convention guests peering down at the city might see messages like “No more years” and “Re-defeat Bush.”
“We just hope that they’ll look down and ask themselves, ‘Why, why do they feel so strongly? Why is it that New York feels this way?'” said Genevieve Christy, who has painted more than 80 banners since thinking of the idea a few weeks ago.
The movement is so popular in her neighborhood that Christy, a 57-year-old consultant, is putting orders on a waiting list. She even brought supplies with her on vacation so she could keep working.
The banners and signs, Christy said, are a form of safe, silent protest that many New Yorkers prefer over the dozens of rallies planned throughout the week of the convention.
Five blocks from convention headquarters at Madison Square Garden, where President Bush (news – web sites) is to be nominated Sept. 2, a 25-by-75-foot banner screams “Save America. Defeat Bush.”
The sign hangs from the offices of the Unite Here union, which represents 440,000 workers from various industries, including hospitality, gaming and textiles.
It’s not just the views from above that are being used. For months, protest groups have been slapping stickers and posters on subway platforms, train cars, traffic signs, park benches, light poles and anywhere else they can find space.
GOP convention spokesman Leonardo Alcivar did not return calls for comment.
One group, called the No RNC Poster Project, has printed tens of thousands of posters to distribute throughout the city. Other groups have created Web sites advocating their poster movements.
“Let no Republican look anywhere in this city without seeing our message,” says one site, promoting an image of a black “W” inside a red circle with a slash through it. “Let’s make the entire city our canvas and let the RNC know that they’ve grossly miscalculated their choice of venue.”
Thomas Gallagher, a 35-year-old graphic artist, printed 3,000 fire-engine-red posters with white letters that proclaim, “World Says No to Bush.” Hundreds have gone up in parts of Brooklyn and Queens and throughout Manhattan.
“The Republicans have made a huge mistake in coming here, so the idea of the signs was to get these up all over the place so you create a buzz … that New York is not with them and does not support this candidate at all,” Gallagher said.
Norman Isaacs, who owns a record store on Cooper Square in the East Village, was eager to send that message to Republicans who might wander by.
“Hopefully,” Isaacs said, “they’ll get the impression that not all of America is with them.”