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Giuliani loses
second Fed suit
by ARTIST!by Robert Lederman
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net
August 10, 2001Street Artists win Second
Federal Lawsuit Against Giuliani;
Parks Department Artist Permit
Ended by Federal CourtFederal Judge Lawrence McKenna has just issued a ruling in Lederman et al v Giuliani 98 Civ. 2024 (LMM) in favor of the NYC street artist plaintiffs. "Section 105 (b) 's permit requirement cannot be enforced against art vendors or indeed against book vendors", the judge wrote agreeing with an earlier ruling by the NY State Appeals Court in a related case.
In conversations with the plaintiff's lawyers, Corporation Counsel Robin Binder acknowledged the termination of the Parks Department artist permit. Binder also claimed the City would now seek to change NYC law, specifically the licensing exemption for First Amendment protected book and newspaper vendors. Since winning the first street artist lawsuit in 1996 [Lederman et al v City of NY/Bery et al v City of NY] artists have the same licensing exemption.
Artists plaintiffs and their attorneys will hold a press conference outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art tomorrow, Friday August 10, 2001 at 12 noon. The exact location will be on the south side of the Met under the shade trees where the artists display their works.
Attorneys for plaintiffs:
Robert Fierman (212) 689-6221
Andrew Miltenberg (212) 481-4242
Corporation Counsel Michael Hess, Robin Binder (212) 788-0818
JUDGE LAWRENCE M. McKENNA
(212) 805-0230, (212) 805-0111 between 9:30 A.M. and 5:30 P.M.
Parks Commissioner Henry Stern, Deputy Commissioner Jack Linn (212) 360-1313.
The Central Park Conservancy 212 310-6600 is a co-defendant in Lederman et al v Giuliani. The Conservancy's director is Regina Peruggia, Mayor Giuliani's first wife.
The recent State Appeals Court ruling: NY Law Journal 7/31/2001 People v Balmuth; 178 Misc. 2nd 958 681 N.Y.S. 2d 439 (NY Crim. Ct. 1998).
Also see: see Judge Refuses To Enforce Permit Rule, N.Y. Law Journal 8/17/98; Charges Are Dropped in Sale of Art in Parks in New York, N.Y. Times 8/18/98; N.Y. Post Editorial, "Free Speech or Free Exhibition Space?"8/20/98
NY Post editorial on the Billings Decision
"Thanks to Mayor Giuliani's quality-of-life program, New Yorkers no longer have to step over quite so many vagrants in order to enjoy the greenery of New York's parks or the aesthetic stimulation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Unfortunately, thanks to Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Lucy Billings, they might now find themselves navigating their way around hordes of self-described "artists"who think it's appropriate to liken politicians they oppose to Hitler."NY Post Editorial 8/20/98 "Free Speech or Free Exhibition Space?"
Street artists are legal: Entire text of the Bery decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Argued: April 26, 1996 Decided: October 10, 1996)
Lederman at al v City of NY; Bery et al v City of NY
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
Nos. 1620, 1621, 1782 August Term 1995
(Argued: April 26, 1996 Decided: October 10, 1996)
Docket Nos. 95-9089 (L), 95-9131, 96-7137
THE PARKS DEPARTMENT ARTIST PERMIT CASE
Lederman et al v Giuliani 98 Civ. 2024 (LMM)
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
"Because we are a City that loves and supports artistic expression so generously, New Yorkers have a unique understanding that the First Amendment protects the right of artists to express their diverse and sometimes controversial views."-The Rights and Responsibilities of Public-Funded Cultural Institutions-Weekly column by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dated 4/18/2001
"As the cultural capital of the world, New York City benefits immensely from the quality and diversity of creative expression found throughout the City,"Mayor Giuliani said. "As a result, New Yorkers uniquely understand that the First Amendment must protect the right of artists to express their diverse and sometimes controversial views."Giuliani press release 4/3/2001
"An exhibition of paintings is not as communicative as speech, literature or live entertainment, and the artists' constitutional interest is thus minimal."-Giuliani appeal brief against street artists having First Amendment protection, Giuliani's appeal brief in Giuliani v Lederman et al and Giuliani v Bery et al, filed with the U.S. Supreme Court 2/24/97.
Press Mulling Suit Against Mayor"NY Law Journal 2/3/99
"A lawsuit charging the Giuliani Administration with violating the First Amendment for using police to interfere with the press's ability to cover crime scenes and emergency situations may be on the horizon.... Gabe Pressman made his views clear: the Giuliani Administration is more "heavy handed"and "authoritarian"than seven prior administrations he has covered. "The press is treated in this town as though it were in a police state,"he added...A third panelist, former Mayor David Dinkins, suggested there have been other problems with the way Mr. Giuliani deals with the press, including filtering all information through City Hall, misusing the state's Freedom of Information Law to delay the release of data, and freezing out reporters whose articles have displeased the Administration. Several in the audience, which included many reporters and news executives, also criticized the Mayor's press relations. Paula Madison, an executive at WNBC, said she had fielded a number of telephone calls from the Mayor and his press office in which she had detected "a really concerted effort to intimidate."
Important Note:
Mr. Lederman has explained that his articles posted here are not to be taken as official statements by the No-Spray Coalition of which he is a member or of the "No-Spray" lawsuit in which he is a plaintiff.Robert Lederman is an artist, a regular columnist for the Greenwich Village Gazette [See: http://www.gvny.com/ for an extensive archive of Lederman columns] The Shadow, The African Sun Times, The Vigo-Examiner [see: http://www.vigo-examiner.com/archive.htm] and Street News, and is the author of hundreds of published essays concerning Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Lederman has been falsely arrested 41 times to date for his anti-Giuliani activities and has never been convicted of any of the charges. He is best known for creating hundreds of paintings of Mayor Giuliani as a Hitler like dictator.
Robert Lederman,
President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net
For a detailed exposition on the West Nile issue
http://www.nospray.org/
For an article on the Manhattan Institute go to
http://www.konformist.com/2000/rudyg.htmIf you would like to help oppose the spraying,
please write to the
No Spray Coalition
PO Box 334
Peck Slip Station
NYC, NY 10272-0334
or call the No Spray hotline at (718) 670-7110.Any funds you can send to help continue the lawsuit
and this work are greatly appreciated.Blue Collar Pundit Essays
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