A three-year lawsuit was settled Tuesday when New York City agreed to extend the use of Central Park’s Great Lawn, where access of more than 50,000 people has been denied since 2004.

Two groups brought the lawsuit against New York City, the National Council of Arab Americans and the Answer Coalition, which opposes the war in Iraq, after being denied a permit to hold an antiwar demonstration on the Great Lawn in the center of the park in 2004.

The rally would have taken place just days before the Republican National Convention. The city said that the quarter of a million people expected at the demonstration would have damaged the grass, after its restoration worth $18.2 million in 1997.

The city also said an informal policy of protecting the lawn had been in place since 1997, reports the New York Times, but only made it official in December 2005.

The two groups argued that this restriction violated their First Amendment rights for free speech, free assembly and free use of a public space.

“It’s an enormous victory for New Yorkers and for everyone who comes to New York City, not only for their free-speech rights, but for their rights to public space that belongs to the people,” Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer for the Partnership for Civil Justice and lead attorney on the case, was quoted by the Times as stating.

As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to make a cash payment of $50,000 to the two organizations, which will split the sum in half between themselves.

The city has also agreed to consult specialists in order to learn what the “optimal and sustainable” use of the Great Lawn is in the case of large events.

“We believe that the settlement of this matter is in the City's best interests,” said Michael Cardozo, the city's lead attorney.

While the independent experts’ study is being conducted, the current restrictions concerning the lawn would remain in effect, with the exception of raising the maximum number of people allowed on the lawn to 75,000.

Central Park’s Great Lawn has been the site of massive gatherings before: more than 500,000 attended a Simon and Garfunkel concert in 1981; more than 125,000 were present when the late John Paul II held mass in 1995 and Luciano Pavarotti sang for another half million in 1993.

Photo credit: centralpark.com