Well anticipating a nightmare trying to get to one of my clients today which are situated two blocks from Madison Square Garden I decided to take the early train out of White Plains at 5:59am. When I got into Grand Central I noticed that security wasn’t as heavy as it has been over the past couple of weeks which surprised me since the Republican Convention kicks off today. When I got off the shuttle train at Times Square that’s when the police presence became evident. They watched everyone getting of the shuttle and boarding trains at going downtown to Penn Station. When I got off at 28th St. since I didn’t want to deal with the barrage of policemen at Penn Station I was surprised at the police presence and the barricades that were put up. They have concrete dividers and fences up all around the Garden and nearby streets. I happen to have a letter that should get me into my clients building since they are within the blocked off area. Since I got in early I was actually able to get up close to the garden and snap some pictures with my Cannon 10D. They actually came out pretty good and they will be posted on the “Moblog“ section. You can reach the Moblog section by clicking the link above in the menubar. I decided to situate myself right next to a cop so that I wouldn’t have to worry about one walking up to me and asking me what I was doing. The cop I was next to watched me open my bag and take the camera out, at which point he asked me who I was with as if I was affiliated with some news agency. I just let him know I was working locally and decided to take some pictures. He was pretty cool about it and we chatted a bit about all the mad hours he and his fellow officers had been putting in over the past week or so. I was speaking with the president of the company I am visiting today when I noticed outside of his windows what seemed to be a sniper perch on top of the Rotunda at the Garden. I decided to climb out the window onto a type of patio area and take some pictures with my telephoto lens. Under close inspection of the photos it seems as if it’s more of a coffee hangout rather than a security detail. If I was one of the delegates attending this I would want these guys watching the surrounding building windows rather than chilling. So enjoy the pictures, I will venture out during lunch and take some more pictures, it may be a little tougher though I noticed from the window that they are limiting foot traffic near the garden.