Letter from a Delegate

Dear Letty,

Here we are in Sodom on Hudson a few days ahead of the convention, and I've never felt safer in my life. You know how we worried that Jimmy Carter may not have brought love and goodness to New York City and we delegates to the Democratic Convention might get into so much trouble that we'd turn Republican. Well, it just isn't like that. Every day of the convention the delegates and alternates--more than 5,000 of us--will be taken in buses from our hotels to Madison Square Garden. Then, after the session is over late at night, we will be bused back again. I sure don't mind that kind of busing--I guess.

At Madison Square, you see police everywhere, and some you don't see. Before he was indicted for selling a judgeship and tampering with evidence, Pat Cunningham, who was the New York State Democratic chairman, told people: "When you come out of the Garden at night, you will see some very strange people on the street. But don't worry. You'll be perfectly safe. Two out of three of them will be police undercover men." Assistant Chief Inspector Daniel Courtenay, a burly man who wears a gun in an ankle holster like Popeye Doyle, is in charge of a ten-square-block area around convention hall. He has 1,200 police who have taken a quickie course in crowd control and what they call "crisis intervention." He also has four specially trained dogs. Every day before the delegates arrive, the dogs will sweep the convention center from top to bottom to sniff out possible bombs.

There will be more than 50 guards inside the Garden, along with volunteer ushers who have been trained by the Miami Beach police chief, Rocky Pomerance. He was hired as a consultant because he showed he could keep the peace at the 1972 Miami conventions without cracking too many skulls. The ushers were selected for their "political sensitivity," such as being able to recognize Chicago Mayor Richard Daley when he comes in.

A policeman warned news reporters: "If you're going to be on the street, get a helmet." But I don't even plan to wear my hat. A lot of demonstrators are expected across the street from the Garden in front of the post office, including thousands of Right To Lifers. Since they are in favor of right to life, I guess they will not endanger mine.

They say that New York City police do not have too much trouble handling crowds because they act just like them. When some protester calls a cop an s.o.b., the cop calls him the same thing right back and forgets about it. As Rocky Pomerance said, "There's an ease of communication between cops and New Yorkers, even when they insult each other, that's a lot different from anywhere else."

Some of the women on the street are dressed fit to kill (literally), and when you take a closer look, you're not certain all of them are women. But they're friendly enough--they keep asking: "Wanna go out? Wanna party?" One lady who came to talk to me was stopped by a policeman who arrested her for violating the state's new antiloitering law. "Don't worry, honey," she said to me. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Two men approached me, looking real mean. Then one of them asked, "Where you from, man?" I said, "Kansas." The other one scoffed: "Nothing here. He should be mugging us."

There is no way of telling that New York is busted. There is nothing missing that I can see and a lot I never expected. Some prices are awfully high, but other things are free. Each delegate will be given a cardboard suitcase stuffed with guidebooks, information about New York and a free pass for subways, buses and trains. We are also receiving some nice presents from stores. Medical and legal help is available 24 hours a day. A New York host is assigned to each state delegation and helps us get tickets for the theater and sports events. Even Shakespeare is free out in Central Park. I saw Henry V. He knew how to make a speech: "Then imitate the action of the tiger;/ Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood." That is my idea of the kind of man who should run for President.

Letty, I told you you should have come with me. Women who are delegates and the wives of delegates can have a free hair comb-out if they have to go on television or make some kind of appearance. I wonder if New York will really go broke after spending so much for the convention. But Comptroller Harrison Goldin says that the city will contribute $3.5 million and take in better than $20 million.

The worst part of being at the convention is that it is going to be too crowded in the Garden. So extra rooms had to be rented in neighboring buildings. Mayor Abe Beame says that this "layout sort of makes for coziness."

I had so many aches just from thinking about the coziness that I decided to try one of those massage parlors in Times Square. Some of the delegates were worried that Times Square might be cleaned up before they arrived. They will be relieved when they get a look. There are so many Xs everywhere that it seems nobody knows how to write his name.

My masseuse appeared to know her job, but then she got carried away, just as I feared. I called the whole thing off. Delegates should be warned that these massage parlors provide a lot more than a massage.

Now that I've seen the city, I'm eager for the convention to begin. There should not be too many dull moments since there will be 7,000 telephones, 13,700 miles of wire, 30,000 hot dogs and one ton of confetti. We'll all be littered with glory. I figure that New York is just like politics: you take the good with the bad and make the best of it. I'm no worse off for visiting New York, and neither is Jimmy Carter.

Love, Eddie

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