August 11, 2003|By John J. Goldman | John J. Goldman,LOS ANGELES TIMES
NEW YORK - A year before the first Republican presidential convention in New York City's history, prominent local donors have pledged about $60 million for the event, and plans are under way that include building a bridge over a busy Manhattan street.
The prospect of nearly 50,000 visitors attending a convention that could pump as much as $150 million into an economy still recovering from the Sept. 11 attacks is highly alluring to the tourist industry and to city officials struggling to close budget gaps.
"This is a tremendous vote of confidence in the long-term prospects of New York City," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said when the Republican National Committee announced its choice Jan. 6. "You have my word this convention will go down as one of the most successful in our nation's history."
Putting his money behind his words, Bloomberg has pledged $5 million to the host committee, which is within easy reach of its fund-raising goal of $64 million.
Bringing the nominating convention to the city that suffered the worst terrorist attack in the nation's history offers President Bush's re-election campaign clear political opportunities as it seeks a springboard for the fall election.
"Coming to New York makes a lot of sense for the Republicans," said Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute of Public Opinion, who noted that the World Trade Center site offers a highly symbolic setting for Bush to provide continuity about the terrorist attack, the administration's response and what would lie ahead during a second term.
"There will be some big symbolic thing at the trade center site," he predicted. "That makes all the sense in the world for them."
The Republican convention, like the Democratic counterpart in Boston, has been declared a national special security event.
The designation places the Secret Service in charge of coordination and planning. Meetings continue with city, state and federal agencies about the security challenge, which has increased drastically since Bill Clinton was nominated at the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1992.
The special security status - which has been applied to such high-profile events as the Super Bowl and the Olympics in Salt Lake City - clears the way for additional federal assistance, including personnel and sensitive radiation-, biological- and chemical-detection equipment.
The designation also allows Congress to allocate funds to repay the city for the $22 million that the Bloomberg administration plans to spend to keep the convention secure.
One of the principal tasks facing security agencies will be to protect Madison Square Garden, where the convention will take place from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. As in 1992, police are expected to take the lead role in guarding surrounding streets and maintaining order during demonstrations.
Plans for reconfiguring the sports arena and the nearby James A. Farley Post Office Building, which will contain the main news media center, are in the "very early stages," said Rori Patrise Smith, a GOP convention spokeswoman.
Among other expenses, the host committee will pay for renting Madison Square Garden and for building a bridge across Eighth Avenue, linking the Garden with the post office.
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
