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Jan 8th
ARTIST Protestby Robert Lederman
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.net
Posted: January 1, 2003Dear street artists,
If you've been following the debate over Council Member Gerson, the so-called "mediation" and Larry White's part in helping the most anti-vendor City officials in NYC create an alternative venue for artists as a ploy to take away our rights you'll appreciate this very interesting article in today's Villager. City officials have been thrown off guard by our pulling the curtain back and exposing their plan to pretend artists' support taking away their own rights. They are working overtime to try to stop this protest by convincing artists and vendors not to attend - which is the VERY best proof there could ever be of how important it is that we all show up on the 8th. A few brief points of clarification:
1. This is going to be a completely legal, non-violent protest/rally. It will be short, no more than 1 1/2 hours. Please be there by 8:30 AM at the latest so the media can see us ready to rally. It will be a reasonably polite rally. We are not trying to anger or insult Bloomberg or anyone else. We simply want the Mayor to know we do NOT support selling vending spots, putting artists in a ghetto or taking away the full First Amendment rights we already won. No one will be arrested.
2. We are not advocating "no licenses for anybody" as Larry White is claiming. We are 100% against ANY form of license, permit or certification for Firs t Amendment-protected artists and book vendors. Period. If craft and jewelry vendors someday win a lawsuit about their rights, they will also be exempt from needing a license or permit.
3. It is not, "too early to start protesting against the new law." Numerous City officials including Alan Gerson, Gretchen Dykstra and various attorney's who work for the City on the vending issue have repeatedly stated this new proposed law will be announced at the end of January. Larry White has told each of his four friends on West Broadway the same thing. Gerson even claims we will soon lose our right to park on West Broadway. Of course, they'd prefer us all to say and do nothing until after it's too late - but that's not how we operate in ARTIST. That's why they plan to announce it in Jan-Feb when most vendors and artists are not on the street or leave town altogether. We beat them to the starting gate and now they are steamed.
4. The new law is a scam which will have no effect on illegal vending. It will only affect legal vendors with licenses and First Amendment-protected artists and book vendors, who will lose all of their current rights. The entire idea behind selling off vending spots is to get rid of us, not to help us, by letting corporations buy up all the vending spots.
The end of January is a mere four weeks from today. The reason they are saying it's too early is that this protest will be a big public relations setback for Consumer Affairs, Bloomberg, Gerson and the fake AASC street artist panel headed by Larry White. They will never be able to say "vendors and artists wanted this new law" after we hold this rally. They may abandon the entire plan for the new law if we are really successful on Jan 8th. That's why they are working to convince you not to show up. Don't be tricked by this.
- Happy New Year and see you all on Wednesday January 8th, 8:30 AM SHARP! at #42 Broadway (The Department of Consumer Affairs, a few blocks south of Wall Street.)
PLEASE BE THERE ON TIME RAIN, SNOW OR SHINE AND BRING AS MANY ARTISTS, VENDORS, SIGNS AND FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE!
ARTIST POWER!
-Robert Lederman
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=3D1840
The Villager
Street vendors fear sweeping change of rules
By: Elizabeth O'Brien December 31, 2002
Local street vendors are divided on the best way to fight proposed changes t o the city's vending laws, with some favoring mediation and others planning a protest rally next week in front of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs.
The city is expected to announce new rules early in 2003 that would further regulate the selling of food, books, art and other merchandise on city streets. Proposals under consideration could include restricting the number of street vendors per block and selling sidewalk vending rights, said sources close to the issue.
The new rules could potentially have major impacts for areas like Soho, where W. Broadway on weekends is typically lined with vendors whose tables are s queezed next to one another.=20
Officials at the Dept. of Consumer Affairs, one of the city agencies that regulates street vending, declined to comment on the details of the planned rules.
"There is no proposal - it will be months before there is one," said Pauline Toole, a D.C.A. spokesperson.
Street vendors say they are not going to wait for a formal announcement before they begin opposing measures that they feel will jeopardize their livelihoods. But they are split on the most effective way to challenge the city when the Bloomberg administration has not yet revealed its hand.
Robert Lederman, an artist and activist known for his paintings of former Mayor Giuliani as Hitler, plans to lead a group of street vendors in protest o n Wed., Jan. 8, in front of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs building at 42 Broadway. Lederman promised more such protests if the proposed changes are approved by the City Council and the mayor.
"We're never going to accept it," Lederman said. "They'll have demonstrations every day in Soho if they try to pass this law."
The Soho Alliance, a local community group, and area businesses have called for a crackdown on the vendors.
Lederman said he anticipates that city officials will argue that vendors sup port the proposed changes, and the purpose of the rally is to take that bargaining chip away from officials.
Others say it's too early for protest.
"I understand the emotions here, but it's a little bit like protesting in November the gifts you won't get in December," said Larry White, a dance photographer and 25-year Soho resident.
White is a member of a task force led by City Councilmember Alan Gerson that is studying solutions to street vendor problems, such as sidewalk congestion, illegal selling and intimidation of legal vendors by illegal vendors. He also serves on the executive panel of the First Precinct police community council. White said that he wanted to continue the dialogue begun with city and community officials.
"A protest just fans the flames and gets everyone upset," White said. White did not rule out using protests in the future, if the regulations seem too stringent once announced. He said that legitimate street vendors need all the protections they can get, especially in a weakened economy. White said that holiday sales were off for many local street vendors.
Gerson said that his street vending task force would release its recommendations sometime in the next few months. He declined to comment specifically on the measures that the task force is considering.
About the Jan. 8 protest, Gerson said, "I don't know that there's something to demonstrate about until there are some proposals on the table."
Lederman disagreed, saying, "This law hasn't been announced yet, but we have substantial indications of what it will be."
The Villager 2002
-----------------------
Dear member of ARTIST,
Please help me promote this event by forwarding the announcement, contacting the media, calling the artists and vendors that you know and reminding them to attend as the date approaches. We also need signs. To make this a success, we need your help. Your right to sell art and the entire public's right to free speech is at stake.
The purpose of this rally is not simply to complain. It is to stop the new vending law from ever being formally announced let alone passed into law. A key part of the City's strategy this time around is to create the false impression that vendors - and we street artists in particular - asked for these new regulations. Once we have deflated this false impression and the new law is exposed for what it is - an unlawful attempt to eliminate as many artists from the streets as possible and take away nine years of legal victories - the City will be at a big disadvantage.
I can't promise that this one protest will stop the new law cold but one thing is for sure. If we don't take appropriate action now it will surely be passed and then all we will be able to do is to sue the City or submit to their efforts to get rid of us. A lawsuit against this new law could take years and in the meantime we may lose our rights. One hour of effort now can save us years of further struggle and litigation. Please help make this rally a huge success.
Happy New Year and
ARTIST POWER!
Robert Lederman
--------------------------------------
PLEASE COPY AND GIVE TO EVERY STREET ARTIST AND VENDOR YOU KNOW MARK THE DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR STREET ARTISTS, FOOD VENDORS, GENERAL MERCHANDISE, BOOK, CRAFT AND VETERAN VENDORS:
*****ALL VENDOR RALLY TO SAVE VENDING******
When:
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8th, 2003 8:30 AM SHARP! Please be there no later than 8:30 AM. We want all DCA employees to see us as they go to work.
(This rally Will NOT be postponed regardless of rain, snow or other weather conditions).
Where:
#42 Broadway in front of the offices of DCA (The Department of Consumer Affairs) near Wall St.
Why:
Mayor Bloomberg and The Department of Consumer Affairs are proposing radical changes to the NYC vending law. These changes were written by the most committed enemies of vending, the City's Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). City officials plan to claim that we, the City's vendors, asked for these changes to be made. This will be done in order to make them appear acceptable. They are not.
WE DIDN'T ASK FOR THEM AND WE DON'T SUPPORT THEM!
Among the features of the proposed new law will be:
1. Limiting vendors of all kinds to only two per block
2. Selling off all vending spots based on competitive bidding (Vending spots in NYC Parks now sell for $50,000 to $750,000 per spot per year).
3. Requiring artists and book vendors to obtain certification and a permit before they qualify to exercise their First Amendment rights - and then requiring them to buy a vending spot.
4. Severely limiting the number of artists and restricting them to one ghetto-like special area while banning them from all other streets.
The public streets and parks of NYC are not for sale to the highest bidder. Artists, book vendors and veterans have legal and Constitutional rights that cannot just be swept aside by the City. Licensed general vendors have followed the rules for years and have gotten nothing but abuse from the City in return.
The proposed new laws will only affect legal vendors and will have no effect at all on illegal vendors who are already subject to arrest, confiscation and fines every time they set up.
The real purpose of the proposed new law is not to regulate vending but to eliminate it by selling off all the vending spaces to corporations. These corporations will then use them for advertising and promotion.
Vendors are honest, hard-working people. A majority are minorities, immigrants or people of color. For the entire history of NYC we have made a huge contribution to the City's commerce and culture. The purpose of this rally is to politely - but firmly - make the Mayor, The Department of Consumer Affairs and the media aware that the City's thousands of vendors do not support these proposed changes to the vending law.
If you want to protect your own rights and those of all the future vendors, please come to this rally, bring your friends, bring a sign and let your voice be heard. Don't wait until the ax has fallen, now is the time to be heard!
Some suggestions for signs: (please make all signs on cardboard only, without any wood, metal or other handles. Please DO NOT bring cloth banners)
Vendor Power!
Artist Power!
Stop Harassing Vendors
Our Streets Are Not For Sale
Our Streets, Not The BIDs Streets
First Amendment Rights On Public Property
No License, No Permit, No Certification
Just Say No To the New Vending Law
Bloomberg Is Anti-Free Speech
When Vending Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Be VendorsFor further information contact:
Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(201) 952-2127
robert.lederman@worldnet.att.netNew York Sun (front page)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24th, 2002City is Planning New Rules For Venders
By BENJAMIN SMITH
Staff Reporter of the Sun"The city early next year plans to issue a new set of rules regulating street artists, booksellers, and other venders - a move sure to set off angry debates among sidewalk merchants, store owners and shoppers.
The Department of Consumer Affairs is trying to create a new, uniform set of rules for street venders, whose proliferation has prompted complaints in SoHo and other neighborhoods around the city.
Proposals being considered include expanding the number of city streets open to vending while limiting commerce to fixed locations on those streets, people involved in the process said.
Other proposals under consideration involve limiting the number of venders in a given place, and regulating what they could sell.
With a new set of rules, the city would step into the terrain where a combination of First Amendment rights and street theater beat back repeated attempts by Mayor Giuliani to update an arcane, and some say unenforceable, set of rules on who can sell what - and where.
Business owners in SoHo and else- where have called for a crackdown on venders, but federal courts have reject- ed limits on art and books.
"If I'm expressing myself, there's no reason that I should be in the same spot every day," said Mitchell Balmuth, who sells his wife's art in various locations around the city; yesterday on East 86th street.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, Dina Improta, would not comment on planned changes to vending laws, other than to say that the agency is "nowhere near a formal proposal." The commissioner of Consumer Affairs, Gretchen Dykstra, is working with the city's criminal justice coordinator John Feinblatt, to hammer out a comprehensive set of rules for the city; The City Council is considering a separate proposal to regulate venders in city parks. No hearings have been scheduled.
The city code has been interpreted as barring regulations of vending that can be seen as speech - like art and writing. Laws around commercial sales - like the people who sell photo- graphs of the burning World Trade Center from tables around its ruins are so complicated they are rarely enforced.
"Clearly the current situation is not working" said Alan Gerson, the council member who represents SoHo. "In too many areas you have unsafe and unacceptable congestion." A driving force behind proposed vender regulations has been the city's Business Improvement Districts, alliances of local landlords who pay for street cleaning, security; and other services.
The BIDs submitted a proposal during the Giuliani administration that would have established n myriad of rules, including one that would have allowed only two venders to set up shop at each street corner.
"The BIDs felt that if there were a reasonable regulatory system that could be enforced, many of them would be comfortable with more venders," said Michael Weiss, president of the Metrotech BID in Brooklyn.
The BIDs proposed barring more than two venders from working the same street corner. The Parks Depart- ment has proposed a lottery system for regulating its venders, while other officials say venders could be issued permits based on seniority; Regardless of the final rules on where venders can work, the attempt to regulate and, perhaps, license venders appears likely to meet furious resistance.
"It's public property - you should not be able to sell an exclusive right to the public forum," said Robert Lederman, the painter whose portraits of Mr.
Giuliani as Hitler and Mussolini deco- rated past protests. Mr. Lederman said he sold two portraits of Mr. Bloomberg with the line "Bloomberg is anti-free speech" on Sunday.
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
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.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.Blue Collar Pundit Essays
Searching for the Breach in
Alice’s Looking Glass WorldMy America
Oh Say, Can You See?
FREEDOM!
War isn't Hell!
God is Starting to Scare Me!
It's All Part of the Plan!
Turning the World Wide Web Into
a Tower of Politically Sanitized BabelAnd by clicking here, you'll see an old suggestion (May 2003) of how Democrats could/should have protested the Republican convention and G.W. Bush.
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