Bush beef in The Big Apple

"You know, under Federal law you can now be arrested for that?"

I was taking pictures of New York police busily clearing 42nd Street for the passage of President George Bush's motorcade as he left the UN.



The guy behind me, a friendly Afro-American, had a beef about Bush. Not unusual in this city, it seems. Nobody even waved as his cars and escorts finally swept by. A lot grumbled while they were forced to wait to cross the street, for up to 40 minutes.

"It's the first time in history that an American President has gone to the United Nations to say he has the right to torture," the Afro commented. "Mostly they're dragged to the UN to answer for their misdeeds."

As for my photography, according to him the law against it is just one piece of a mass of stuff that has followed American paranoia after nine-eleven.

The cop didn’t seem to mind being photographed, though. He pulled in his stomach and made himself look tough.

Meanwhile, the whole week of the General Assembly meeting caused the sirens rate to increase massively in an already noisy city. Traffic was even more difficult too.

And the Big Apple was also infested with secret service types, even lurking outside our hotel where the President of Sierra Leone was staying. As was also a guy named Ahern.

Brian Byrne.