The RNC delegates aren’t due here for three days, but the superabundant security precautions are already palpable.
I was playing softball in Central Park last night when two police officers asked us to claim all of the bags behind the backstop. And we did, since abandoned packages can be a legitimate threat. Then, however, they asked if they could perform a few random searches; a few of us politely demurred, and the cops took names and addresses. Luckily, my treasonous stash—running shoes, an extra T-shirt, and a library book—remained unmolested.
Timing is everything, and it’s too bad the cops didn’t try this an hour earlier, when WNYC’s team, which included Brian Lehrer and Robert Siegel, was using the field. It might have been an interesting discussion thread on All Things Considered.
