Green Scroll March for Iran Across the Brooklyn Bridge, 9/24

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by Denise Romano

UPDATE: Following the green scroll march, the crowd reconvened to protest outside of Ahmadinejad’s hotel for a second evening in a row. Watch the video.

ORIGINAL: For one hour today, the Brooklyn Bridge went green.

While there is no official count, attendees are saying more than 1,000 protesters marched with green scrolls from Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn to City Hall Park in Manhattan via the historic Brooklyn Bridge.

The gathering began small, with only around one hundred supporters. But by the time the scrolls began making their way across the bridge, the event had grown beyond expectations. From the Manhattan side, the bridge was a sea of green signs, banners and clothing.

As marchers exited the bridge, a slowly swelling crowd was greeting them with passionate chants of “Azadi! [Freedom!]” “Dorooghgoo! [Liar!]” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Ahmadinejad’s got to go!”, until everyone reached Manhattan. As a billboard truck passed, with a photo of Ahmadinejad captioned “Murder, Torture, Rape: Hold Ahmadinejad Accountable,” protesters alternated between cheers for the driver and boos for Iran’s controversial ‘President.’

The march kicked off the third and final day of protests against Ahmadinejad as he visited the city for the United Nations General Assembly. The protesters, organized by Where is My Vote? – New York Chapter, had gathered throughout the week in a series of diverse events, from a human screen film protest to a massive protest outside of United Nations Headquarters.

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No to Ahmadinejad, Yes to Human Rights: Rally at the UN, 9/23

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by Denise Romano

UPDATE (9/24. 10 a.m. ET): It has been reported that a small group of protesters discovered where Ahmadinejad was eating dinner and shouted slogans outside as he dined. Videos also surfaced late last night of protests outside of the Continental Hotel, where he and other officials were staying.

ORIGINAL: At the largest green movement rally in NYC so far, thousands of protesters marched from the Iranian Mission to United Nations Headquarters, chanting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans as Iran’s controversial ‘President’ prepared to speak at this week’s General Assembly.

The streets were filled with chants in Farsi and English, such as “Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein!” and “Liar, Liar, Go Away!” Iranian rapper Revolutions of the Mind performed a song about the election fallout in Iran. Giant green sheets were shot out of “guns” into the crowd, who held them up over their heads as protesters had ton in Tehran in June. Protesters donned “Solidarity with Iran” or other green t-shirts, wore masks to protect their families in Iran from retribution, and carried “Not My President” signs.

50-80 protesters remained outside of the United Nations until after 8 p.m., hoping to greet an exiting Ahmadinejad.

The marchers began gathering shortly after 11 a.m. By 4:30 p.m. the crowd size peaked at an unofficially estimated 4,000, with some estimates placing that number at 7,000 and 10,000. The event was organized by Where is My Vote? – New York Chapter and covered broadly by the mainstream media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Voice of America, CNN, and others.

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[Quotes and interviews with attendees coming shortly.]

“Iran Alive” Film Protest at the United Nations, 9/22

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by Denise Romano

Tomorrow a massive protest is planned outside of the United Nations to oppose Iranian ‘President’ Ahmadinejad as he speaks at the General Assembly. Tonight, however, dozens of early comers gathered at 47th Street and 2nd Avenue for the “Iran Alive” Film Protest, organized by Where is My Vote?-NY Chapter.

Organizers gathered several volunteers clad in white to form a performing human screen, upon which was projected a video compilation of the summer’s events, as well as seemingly countless “Ahmadinejad is not my president” testimonies from Iranians in English and Farsi.

Just before the film began, the crowd shifted its attention to a group of arriving bicyclists. The group, Cycling for Human Rights in Iran, began their ride in Toronto three days before. Their arrival was met with huge applause and hundreds of camera flashes.

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[Interviews with attendees posted soon]

Anti-Nokia Flash Mob, 8/20

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by Denise Romano

A dozen New York supporters of the human rights movement in Iran formed a flash mob outside of Madison Square Garden today to protest Nokia. The event was organized by Project Nur, a student-led organization that describes itself as moderate and pluralist.

Nokia has come under fire since the Ahmadinejad government began using technologies provided by the telecom company to carry out a massive, violent crackdown on protesters of the disputed June 12th election.

Earlier in the day, protesters had also gathered outside of New York’s Nokia flagship store. Wednesday evening, many also headed to Columbia University where a lecture marked the 56th anniversary of the overthrow of Iran’s then-democratically elected leader Mohammed Mosaddeq.

While August has been a quieter month for the Green Movement in New York, a large protest is being planned for September 23-24th outside of the UN, when Ahmadinejad will visit the New York-based headquarters.

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NYC Silent Vigil for Neda, Union Square, 7/30

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by Denise Romano

Less than one week after they poured into the streets for the Global Day of Action, Iranians in New York gathered again in Union Square to mark the 40th day since the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26 year-old killed in broad daylight shortly after the controversial election.

Attendees held signs of Neda over their faces and sat in almost total silence for two hours. As the sun set, green and white candles were lit and roses laid in front of the crowd. A saxophone capped off the silence at 9:30 p.m.

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