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ROBERT TRIGAUXRobert Trigaux is a business columnist for the St. Petersburg Times. While covering the economic issues at the Republican National Convention in New York, he'll share his opinions and experiences in the online journal.
Mother Nature must be sending a message to the Republican National Convention up here in the Big Apple. On the eve of the event, in the heart of a Democratic city, it's going to be HOT.
That must be the reason Central Park temperatures on Saturday hit a muggy 90 degrees for the first time this summer. The convention and the promise of hundreds of thousands of protesters may just bring this breeze-less city to a broil.
I know, I know. What do New Yorkers have to gripe about when it comes to heat and humidity, right Tampa Bay? Well, trust me, this city is getting a pretty good warm-up, literally, just in time for a week of political combustion.
I flew into LaGuardia Airport Saturday where "Welcome RNC" signs were posted at the baggage claims area. I hopped a ShuttleVan to get into Manhattan. The first sign that I was back in a post-9/11 New York? The police were diverting trucks and vans (but not us) to be searched before they entered the tunnel taking us under the East River into midtown Manhattan.
Clusters of police stand outside the larger hotels catering to RNC delegates. Florida delegates are staying as a group at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue. There is red, white and blue bunting in the lobby and delegates get a small box of fancy sweets when they pick register. The elevators have TV screens in them showing -- what else? -- Fox News.
My favorite Fox segment: About how the RNC has "counselors" available to delegates if they get upset by all the chatter about terrorist threats or,as Fox riffed, any New Yorkers in general. Talk about strangers in a strange land.
I took a quick walking tour Saturday to get a first look at the Madison Square Garden area, about 20 blocks south of the hotel, where the convention officially opens Monday. Police are out in great force and street barriers are up for crowd control.
Not that any of that is keeping New Yorkers away. Walking down a very crowded Broadway on Saturday, New York was busy doing what it does best: hawking every imaginable trinket. Never let politics get in the way of making a buck.
Within a block, there was an entrepreneur dressed as the Statue of Liberty silently encouraging photos to be taken ("for a tip.") Another person braved the heat dressed as Spiderman, while street preachers called out for all, delegates apparently included, to repent.
As I got closer to Madison Square Garden, the numbers of police rose steadily until I came upon a small army of New York's finest. A street musician started belting out patriotic tunes on his trumpet.
So where are all the protesters? Saturday afternoon was quiet -- at least in this part of the city. The only two "protesters" I could find were two kids under the age of 10 carrying signs. One message: Why Do All Rich People Look Like Bush?
There were protests, of course, on Saturday and before. And a big one is expected today.
One earlier bicycle protest played off Paul Revere's famous ride, only this time the protesters were sounding the alarm about arriving conventioneers. "One if by corporate jet. Two if by SUV. The Republicans have been sighted!"
Madison Square Garden, for those not that familiar with New York City, sits in a part of midtown Manhattan surrounded by some of the best and worst of the city. Macy's -- that grand New York landmark -- is next door, its windows festooned with election themes and giant red, white, and blue star-shaped balloons above the entrances.
Walk around Madison Square Garden to 30th Street, however. This is the underbelly, where everyone is busy hauling carts and supplies into the back of the convention facility. Be careful: It's tricky navigating the sidewalks with all those down-and-outers passed out on the sidewalks. A block away, Hummer limousines are common sights. Plus a new one for me: a Porsche Cayenne (that's the SUV) stretched into a limousine long enough to fit (it seemed) the entire Florida delegation.
I guess you're never as far from New York as you think. One of the many free tabloid newspapers in this city, the weekly New York Press, is running an article headlined "Why Not Vote Twice." It plays off the recent New York Daily News story that said about 46,000 New Yorkers are registered to vote both in this city and Florida.
And who gets some attention in that story but a Pinellas Park resident identified as Norman Siegel. The Daily News reported Siegel has voted twice in seven elections since 1988. When the newspaper called him, he reportedly said "That's illegal." When confronted with his voting record, he told the News he had "to go."
I have no earthly clue why there needs to be three folks from the working media for every single delegate attending this convention. I guess the RNC knows this is its One Big Show for selling candidate George W. Bush to the people across the country. (As if the media companies are not enjoying all those record campaign funds buying up all those ads.)
To put the 15,000 RNC-attending reporters and editors in the right mood, Time Warner (the giant corporate owner of CNN, the magazines Time and Fortune and People, AOL and a zillion other things including the rights to the Harry Potter movies) hosted a fancy party Saturday night in the tony four-story mall that is part of its snazzy new Columbus Circle headquarters on the southwest corner of Central Park. Music, entertainment, top-of-the-line food, and free booze.
No wonder it seems so quiet here early on this Sunday morning.