Economic forum protests subdued so far

Associated Press

NEW YORK – Meditation exercises, game-show masks and only a handful of arrests marked a generally peaceful start to protests on a rain-soaked first day of the World Economic Forum – a magnet in the past for violent anti-globalization demonstrations.

Outside the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in midtown Manhattan, where some 3,000 business and political leaders began a five-day conference, a dozen members of the environmental group Friends of the Earth waved cardboard cutouts of game show host Anne Robinson and chanted, “WEF, you are the weakest link – goodbye!”

Nearby, several hundred members of Falun Gong – the religious group banned in China – sported matching yellow scarves as they joined in mass exercises along New York’s Park Avenue.

There were five arrests on charges of trespassing and reckless endangerment when activists from the gay rights group ACT UP climbed to a building rooftop and unfurled a banner that read, “Bush and big biz agree that people with AIDS drop dead.”

Bigger protests were planned for later in the conference, but Thursday’s scene was in sharp contrast to the violence that has marred international meetings in Seattle, Canada and Italy where dozens were hurt and arrested.

Protest leaders predicted more of the same. “I completely expect the mobilization to be peaceful,” said Mike Dolan of the Public Citizens Global Trade Watch.

Still, the forum – where global movers and shakers talk shop and schmooze – was a burden for some New York businesses, which have suffered the economic effects of Sept. 11 on top of a recession. Some shopkeepers complained that they were losing thousands of dollars as heavy security near the forum kept customers away. Others decided to close up altogether until the forum ends Monday.

To prevent any major disruptions, 4,000 police officers were deployed across Manhattan and traffic was banned in a “frozen zone” on the city’s East Side. Cars parked there were towed, and concrete barricades were set up around the ritzy Waldorf.

Police reported a handful of vandalism incidents at several chain businesses around Manhattan, with one arrest. Ry Fyan, 23, of Bakersfield, Calif., was arrested for defacing the front door of a Starbuck’s in lower Manhattan, police said. A Chase Manhattan bank branch and a Gap clothing store were hit by vandals, although police did not link the incidents to the forum.