BOSTON (AP) – Money manager Rick Silver will be on Cape Cod enjoying the sun and sand when 35,000 Democrats, reporters and assorted political cronies descend on Boston for the Democratic National Convention next month.

“They are shutting down half the city,” said Silver, who made plans to get out of Boston as soon as he heard about the convention.

Silver’s reaction is typical in Boston, where complaining about 40 miles of highway closures and other convention-related inconveniences has become almost as common as groaning about the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, 200 miles to the south, New Yorkers seem to be preparing for the Republican National Convention with a yawn rather than a whine.

“Here, the president comes to town every week and people just move around like ants. If they block off half the city, people just move around it,” said Adam Lavin, a New York hedge fund investor.

The contrasts between staid Boston and brash New York are old news. The two cities were economic rivals from Colonial times, and their baseball teams participate in the oldest and nastiest rivalry in sports. Their citizens’ differing outlook toward the upcoming convention is just another facet of that.

To be sure, there is more inconvenience expected in Boston because of the location of the convention site. The FleetCenter is just yards from Interstate 93 and shares a building with North Station, a major hub for commuters from north of Boston. Because of security concerns, officials plan to close North Station and 40 miles of roads around the convention site.

The Republican convention will be held at Madison Square Garden, in midtown Manhattan, a venue that hosts major events on a regular basis. Penn Station is located 400 to 500 feet below Madison Square Garden, whereas North Station is directly below the FleetCenter, increasing the security concerns in Boston.

The RNC has not yet announced its traffic plan for the convention, but the kind of major shutdowns planned in Boston are not expected in New York, where more people use public transportation to get to work.

In Boston, where many people drive to work, complaints about traffic and other inconveniences expected during the convention has at times drowned out any excitement over the impending nomination of homegrown Sen. John Kerry for president.

“The nature of Bostonians is the sky is falling, so this fits beautifully into that,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a Democratic political analyst and communications professor at Boston University.

“That being said, when you close down the number of highways and rail transit lines that the feds are going to close down here, you’re looking at a traffic disaster – there’s no way around that. So perhaps the average gloom and doom of the average Bostonians might be well-founded.”

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch says the difference between the attitudes toward the conventions in New York and Boston is simply one of experience. Boston has never hosted a national political convention, while New York has hosted five conventions since 1856, most recently the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

“We are accustomed to it,” Koch said. “We can do 10 conventions at one time. Our lifeblood is having people come here.”

Koch, a Democrat serving as chairman of a drive to recruit 8,000 volunteers for the Republican convention, said New York is better equipped to host a convention.

“I wish (the Democrats) all the best, but I know Boston ain’t New York,” he said. “Our hotels, our restaurants, our shopping, there’s nothing like it. I love Boston, but not for any of those things.”

DNC organizers say it’s unfair to compare the reaction to the conventions in the two cities, especially since the Republican convention in New York is a month later and details of its plans have not been made public yet. Republican leaders plan to unveil their traffic plan Friday.

“It’s a great place to have a convention,” Democratic National Convention Committee spokeswoman Peggy Wilhide said of Boston. “No one knows that better than the people who live here in Boston, and I think before, during and after the convention the world will realize that as well.”

Boston Mayor Tom Menino and business leaders have urged workers to telecommute or take vacation the week of the convention because of the expected traffic jams.

In New York, only the businesses in the immediate vicinity of Madison Square Garden are expecting to be noticeably affected.

“Most businesses plan to conduct business on their usual summer schedule,” said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business leadership group.

She said many business leaders in New York consider the convention a golden opportunity to hobnob with influential Republicans, as well as a chance to shore up the tourism industry, which lost $7 billion in the two years after the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.

“These events are very important to us to rebuild that industry,” she said.

Lamar Jones, 27, a foot messenger from Queens, N.Y., said he plans to go with the flow during the Republican convention from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2.

“I’ve got to work and most of my jobs are in this part of town,” he said Wednesday while making a delivery near Madison Square Garden.

“I’m sure it’ll slow me down, but what can you do?”

AP-ES-06-23-04 1622EDT