The New York City Police Department said it did not expect major delays for theatregoers this evening, even though there will be a 1,000 person demonstration in Times Square along Broadway between West 43rd Street and West 42nd Street.

The demonstration, which takes place 4-7 PM, Oct. 14, is being done to support the "Free Abu Jamal Mumia Coalition." Abu Jamal Mumia was convicted of killing a police officer whom Mumia maintains was threatening his brother.

"The department has procedures to handle demonstrations of all sizes," an NYPD spokesperson told Playbill On-Line, "and nothing major is expected to go wrong here."

The Times Square Business Improvement District (TS-BID) has issued a routine alert stating that as many as 1,000 people would show up to demonstrate for the Mumia coalition. Even so, the NYPD emphasized that it did not predict any disruption to the theatre traffic, which will begin to pick up just as the demonstration is scheduled to end at 7 PM.

-- By Murdoch McBride