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Blue Collar Politics Blog.To a Directory of Mr.Lederman's Essays
Artistic expression
a criminal offence?Open letter to
Mayor Bloombergby Robert Lederman
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net
August 6, 2002Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
You are the sponsor of Intro #160 which is right now before the NY City Council. If Intro #160 is passed into law it will start a chain reaction resulting in the loss of virtually all First Amendment freedom on public property within NYC. Once the written matter exemption passed by the NY City Council in 1982 is replaced by Intro #160, the sale of art and books within 350 feet of a park will require a permit. Then the City will have to make a similar law for the streets. Then even the free distribution of literature will require a permit in order to prevent an equal protection challenge. Then, NYC's reputation as a center for free speech, art and political dissent will be nothing but a memory.
Mr. Mayor, you claim to be an advocate for art, freedom of enterprise and for free speech yet with Intro #160 you are taking an extraordinary action against all three.
Please withdraw Intro #160 from consideration.
Robert Lederman,
President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
Phone: (201) 896-1686INTRO # 160 [Note: where the bill says "vending of written matter" it also means the vending of art. Visual art became officially classified as written matter after we won the first street artist lawsuits in 1996, Lederman et al v City of NY/Bery et al v City of NY. Also note the doublespeak in the wording of this proposed law. It pretends that it's about protecting First Amendment rights when it's clearly about taking them away. It also falsely claims that a permit is needed to regulate vending, the identical argument the City unsuccessfully used in Lederman et al v Giuliani. State and Federal courts have specifically ruled in numerous street artist lawsuits and Criminal Court cases that the City's 60-plus page Vending Ordinance already has hundreds of rules that adequately regulate the time, place and manner of vending. As a final note of irony, the original written matter exemption this proposed law seeks to remove was partly sponsored in 1982 by then City Council member, Henry Stern, who later became Commissioner of Parks and a leading opponent of First Amendment rights for artists. Mr. Stern's protégé, Adrian Benepe, is now Parks Commissioner.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Council Members Addabbo, Comrie, Diaz, Foster, Perkins and Golden (by request of the Mayor)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in order to clarify the express authority of the commissioner of parks and recreation to regulate the vending of written matter within the geographical areas under the jurisdiction of parks and recreation. Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. The Council finds and declares that the vending of written matter should be free of unnecessary restrictions as long as such activity is not a threat to the public health, safety or welfare. The Council also finds that geographical areas under the jurisdiction of the department of parks and recreation are integral in preserving the welfare of the public. As such, the commissioner of parks and recreation has the responsibility of balancing the interest of the public to enjoy the resources of parks with the rights of the vendors of written matter. Permitting unbridled and unregulated vending of written matter in parks seriously undermines the ability of the commissioner of parks and recreation to provide public recreational activity and to preserve the character of parks for the benefit of the public. Moreover, parks and parks facilities should not be overrun with commercial activity. The Council further finds that there is a specific need for reasonable measures to regulate the time, place and manner for the vending of written materials in parks consistent with the First Amendment. Accordingly, the commissioner of parks and recreation shall be authorized to regulate, through a permitting system, the vending of written matter in areas under the commissioner's jurisdiction.
§2. Section 20-473 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 14 for the year 1995, is amended to read as follows:
Section 20-473. Exemptions for general vendors who exclusively vend written matter. General vendors who exclusively vend written matter are exempt from the following provisions of this subchapter: sections 20-454, 20-455, 20-456, 20-457, 20-459, 20-461, 20-462, 20-463 and 20-464; subdivision g of section 20-465; subdivision j of section 20-465, except that nothing herein shall be construed to deprive the commissioner of the department of parks and recreation of the authority to regulate through a permitting system the time, place and manner of the vending of written matter in areas under the jurisdiction of parks and recreation as it relates to public health, safety or welfare, in a manner consistent with the purpose of the parks and the declared legislative intent of this subchapter; section 20-465.1 and any rules promulgated thereunder, except that on any street where both general vending is prohibited pursuant to section 20-465.1 of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder and food vending is prohibited pursuant to section 20-465.1 of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder or pursuant to subdivision 1 of section 17-315 of this code, general vendors who exclusively vend written matter shall not be permitted to vend with the use of any vehicle, pushcart or stand; sections 20-466 and 20-467; subdivisions c and d of section 20-468; sections 20-469 and 20-470; and subdivision a, and paragraph one of subdivision c of section 20-472.
§3. This local law shall take effect immediately.
To a Directory of Mr.Lederman's Essays
Robert Lederman is an artist, writer and activist and is also the President of the street artist advocacy group, A.R.T.I.S.T.
Click here for an archive of A.R.T.I.S.T. related news articles on the Freedom Forum websiteHis essays and Op-Eds have appeared in hundreds of alternative publications as well as the Daily News, Penthouse, Africa Sun Times, Street News and The Shadow.
Lederman was falsely arrested 41 times for his anti-Giuliani activities and was never convicted of any of the charges. As a result of the arrests, he's won four Federal lawsuits and overturned three laws.
He is best known for having created hundreds of paintings of Mayor Giuliani as a Hitler like dictator which were carried in demonstrations throughout the eight years of the Giuliani administration. Images of his paintings and articles about his arrests and lawsuits have appeared on all of the major television networks hundreds of times as well as frequently appearing in the NY Times, Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, Newsweek, People, The Washington Post, LA Times and NY Magazine.Robert Lederman,
President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net
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