The Wall Street Journal reports: Iranian activists — trying to blanket New York City with their trademark green color — lobbied to bathe the top of the Empire State Building in green light all this week during their rallies against Iran’s president, who is visiting the United Nations.

The request was rejected. But on Thursday, to the protesters’ delight, it will be green anyway, for another reason: an “Emerald Gala” for the 70th anniversary of the film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Organizers have notified their email lists, and many demonstrators plan to stand under the building and cheer when it lights up in the evening. Photographers documenting the protests plan to post the view online for inspiration around the globe, organizers said.

“The universe is smiling and the stars are aligned!” wrote one blogger, named Anonymous Iran. “I’m so happy I could cry!”

The green lighting will happen the same day demonstrators plan to unfurl a nearly mile-long green banner across the Brooklyn Bridge. Sadra Shaba, a 24-year-old graduate student and protest organizer for Voices for Iran, said protesters “consider anything that’s green part of our movement. Even the Statue of Liberty is green.”

Lights adorning the building for decades have signaled important events, such as the election of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 and in 1977 the Yankees winning the World Series, along with various holidays.

Iranian blogs and Web sites have been trumpeting that New York is “Going Green” this week, a phrase they have sought to make synonymous with supporting the opposition movement led by Mir Hossein Mousavi, the top challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June presidential elections marred by allegations of rampant fraud.

Mary Goldwater, an organizer of Project Greenlight, said she applied for the Empire State Building lighting about two weeks ago. Her project asks people to hang green lights on prominent structures.

Ms. Goldwater received a reply dated Sept. 18 from the Empire State Building Co. LLC, which decides on lighting requests, refusing the application. “After careful consideration of your proposal, unfortunately, the decision was made to deny your request,” wrote Nicole Grzywacz of the building’s public-relations office. The office wouldn’t comment on the reason, but those familiar with the building’s practice said it avoids taking sides in political disputes.

Nevertheless, “The Wizard of Oz” anniversary “kind of works to our advantage,” Ms. Goldwater said. Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is hosting the gala, had no comment on the coincidence.

The building also was lit green on Sunday to mark the end of Ramadan; green is a traditional color for Islam.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)