CUOMO THREATENS RALLY AT GOP CONVENTION

ALBANY (AP) - Andrew Cuomo said he will call off a potentially
embarrassing demonstration at the Republican National Convention in
August only if Gov. George Pataki and Republican leaders reform the
state's drug laws first.

"If they don't want us to do the rally, they should change the laws,
which they promised to do," said Cuomo, the former federal housing
secretary and Democratic candidate for governor.

Cuomo spokesman Shane Kavanagh said Wednesday that Cuomo and hip-hop
mogul Russell Simmons have filed for the permit to hold the
demonstration outside Madison Square Garden, where the GOP convention
is scheduled. Cuomo said 50,000 people are expected to attend the
demonstration on the first day of the convention, Aug. 30.

Invited are those who attended the May 2003 rally: Rappers Sean "P.
Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent, Nas and Ludacris and pop singers Carly Simon
and Mariah Carey.

Cuomo said the protest will portray New York's Rockefeller-era drug
laws as the most harsh and outdated in the nation. The laws mandate
long prison sentences for the possession and sale of relatively small
amounts of narcotics.

The protest will also prominently pin the lack of reform on the
Republican governor and Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.