Note: David, twice the SP-USA's Presidential candidate, has been an active member of the SP, and a leader in the New York Left, since the 1950's. You can read his Web Log at http://www.mytown.ca/mcreynolds/.

The day started bright and sunny as I headed uptown to the Church Center for the UN to take part in an action endorsed by the NY Local of the SP, and organized mainly by clergy (including a lot of heavy duty lifting from the Catholic Workers).

I had been careful to empty my pockets of anything that might get me in trouble after arrest - my Swiss army knife, nail clippers, and the little plastic container of catnip for cats I meet along the way (the police might easily think it was a stash of pot). I packed a bottle of water for what I expected would be the long wait between arrest and release (and three Hershey bars to cope with hunger).

We had an orderly two-by-two march down from the Church Center at 44th and First Avenue, across to Third Ave., and up to 45th St. where the US Mission to the UN is. (I do not know why it moved from 46th St. - the old site is a big hole in the ground now so maybe they are building a new US Mission there). We arrived, about 75 of us willing to risk arrest by blocking the entrance, and over 75 across the street in the legal area.

We stood, with orange T shirts that said "Shut Down Guantanamo" and "End Torture", and a metal cage the Catholic Workers had constructed, with someone inside in an orange jump suit and a black hood. (The cage was kept across the street in the legal area - but it had been carried across town with us and was very dramatic). The group of us waiting for arrest were almost entirely clergy - I was kind of the honorary atheist.

We waited. There were lots of cops. Lots of police cars. But after about a half an hour word came down that the building manager was not going to ask the police to arrest us. Had we entered the building and gone up to the US Mission office we would have been arrested but that would have been a much more serious federal charge which hadn't been anticipated. (That would have needed a long group discussion - we had not anticipated this). So there were closing prayers and Rabbi Arthur Waskow took the occasion of reminding us about the origins of May Day in Chicago, and with that we dispersed. (There was a mention of this on the BBC News). Thus, instead of ending up under arrest I came home, did my laundry and then went over to Mary House, run by the Catholic Worker, for their annual celebration of May Day.

For those interested, there is an ongoing Guantanamo Project (of which this is a part) and if you want to help with local organizing, let me know.

Peace, David McReynolds

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