Thursday 26 August 2004
New York - Seventy-one percent of the city's registered voters think protesters should be allowed to demonstrate in Central Park during the Republican National Convention, and 11 percent plan to go to a demonstration themselves, according to a poll released Thursday.
Most New Yorkers, 81 percent, approve of lawful demonstrations during the convention, and 68 percent approve of nonviolent civil disobedience, the Quinnipiac University Poll found. Nearly all disapprove of violent protests, according to the poll.
"The city is rolling out the red carpet for the Republican delegates, but most New Yorkers would roll out the green carpet of Central Park for the anti-Republican demonstrators," Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
"Lawful demonstrations - even nonviolent civil disobedience - are a time-honored tradition and still widely supported," he said. "But 19 out of 20 New Yorkers draw the line at violence."
Two-thirds think the convention and the protests surrounding it will cause major disruptions, but just 10 percent plan to leave during the event, the poll said. Half said they were worried about the convention being held in the city, and 31 percent said they thought a major terrorist attack during the convention is "very likely" or "somewhat likely," the poll found.
New Yorkers were split on whether the convention will be good for the city, with 30 percent saying it would be, 33 percent saying it would not be, and 33 percent saying it won't make a difference, according to the Quinnipiac University Poll.
As for President Bush, the star of the event, 70 percent said they disapproved of the job he is doing, compared with 25 percent who approved, the poll said.
The poll surveyed 822 New York City registered voters between Aug. 20 and Aug. 24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.