Letter to the Editor: Another view of the WCFU rally (12/31/78)

Letter to the Editor

Another view of the WCFU rally

Dear Editor:

I am somewhat annoyed because of the manner in which the Ukrainian press (both Ukrainian-language and English-language) reported the disorders which took place at the conclusion of the manifestation on November 26 near the building of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations. From the Ukrainian press accounts, an uninformed reader would surmise that the New York City police had discriminated against Ukrainians by not permitting the demonstration to take place in front of the Soviet building. Nothing can be further from the truth.

I am a retired New York City police captain, retired because of line-of-duty disabilities. In the past five or six years I have been serving as the liaison between New York City agencies and the United Ukrainian American Organizations of New York. With a few exceptions, I have found the governmental units to be very cooperative in grating any privileges to Ukrainians. The few times that we did not get what we were seeking were occasioned by legal restrictions upon the involved city agency.

Relative to the matter of permitting Ukrainians to demonstrate in front of the Soviet Mission building, in 1971, because of the disorderly demonstrations in front of the building, primarily by the militant Jewish Defense League, a judge issued an injunction against any group demonstrating in front of the mission. He did however, modify his ruling by permitting a small group of 12 persons to enter into the Mission block during any demonstration for the purpose of presenting any petitions, resolutions, etc., to the Soviet officials. The judge specifically named the New York City police to enforce this injunction. To date, the court mandate is still in force. That is why the police do not permit demonstrators in front of the Soviet building.

Currently, the New York City branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is in the midst of a court action which asks that the injunction be struck down as an infringement of constitutional rights. I fully expect that the suit will result in the vacating of this court mandate. In my opinion, this does not mean that demonstrators will be permitted in front of the Soviet building. Inasmuch as a police station and a fire station are located directly across from the Soviet building on this narrow midtown cross street, I believe that the New York City police commissioner will invoke his powers under the city charter and N.Y. state law and close off the street during demonstrations so that emergency apparatus can have free access to it.

As for the egg throwing, rock throwing and firecracker setting off by the Ukrainian youth. No logically thinking person can claim that these acts were spontaneous. I am certain that the involved youths were not carrying hardboiled eggs in their pockets because they intended to eat them if they became hungry during the manifestation. Further, the rocks being on hand were not the result of rock-collecting hobbyists picking them up along the route for the purpose of adding them to their collections. In addition, the possession of firecrackers by our youth was not because they are practitioners of some Oriental religions and intended to set off the fireworks to frighten off evil spirits as the Chinese do when celebrating their New Year. At this point, I must advise that the police had warned me that they intended to use force if the Ukrainian demonstration became disorderly. This attitude developed because of last year's demonstration in the vicinity of the Soviet Mission building wherein four police officers were injured and thousands of dollars of damage was caused by youth climbing atop parked autos and collapsing their roofs. In addition, in the past year, during a youth demonstration, a number of police officers had their uniforms damaged by Ukrainian youths who threw cans of red paint at the officers. The police warning was passed by me to a meeting of the United Ukrainian American Organizations. I don't recall if any youth representatives were present at that meeting, but if they were, they certainly did not pay any attention to my information.

I realize that our Ukrainian press plays down any derogatory references to our people. I also wish to remind Ukrainians that the police in the United States are not our enemy. Our enemies are the people who live and work in the various diplomatic installations the Soviets have set up in this country.

Michael Luchuf
Flushing, N.Y.

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