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In anticipation of Mayor Bloomberg's hosting of Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, the PBA joined forces with the firefighters union to capitalize on the media's intense interest in the event and shine a bright spotlight on the city's insulting contract offer. From the Garden in mid-afternoon to the mayor's posh East Side in the middle of the night, from City Hall to Gracie Mansion to Ground Zero and many other strategic locations, PBA leaders, delegates and members staged 'pop-up informational picketing' sessions to dramatize the conflict. As we, in Pat Lynch's words, 'got the mayor up in the morning and put him to bed at night,' our activism was widely covered by the local, national and international media. When the convention actually got under way Aug. 30, our members did their duty in exemplary fashion, winning enthusiastic praise in the city's editorial pages for doing a great job under impossibly difficult circumstances. In the following pages and from a chilly December perspective, we look back at the images of an eventful summer...