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Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://baltech.org/lederman/
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
4/10/2002
Mayor Mike Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, N.Y. 10007
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
I represent the street artists of New York City. As you may know, I and my
group A.R.T.I.S.T. fought an eight year long struggle with the Giuliani
administration about our Constitutional rights. The full details are on the
websites listed above. We've won a number of Federal lawsuits and are now as
fully protected by the First Amendment as is the NY Times or Bloomberg News.
When you were elected Mayor the street artists breathed a sigh of relief
thinking, finally, here's a Mayor with a media background who can understand
and respect the First Amendment.
To our surprise, the most blatant violation of our rights that has ever
occurred took place this past weekend in SoHo on Saturday 4/6/2002, executed
while you were Mayor.
Police officers from the First Precinct commandeered a NYC Sanitation truck
then seized and methodically destroyed the property of numerous members of
my group by having it crushed in the truck. This was not an accident but a
carefully planned operation which is now being investigated by NYPD internal
affairs. We have photographs and eyewitness accounts and the police have not
denied that this took place.
In 1994 Rudy Giuliani began his term in office by targeting the street
artists in SoHo. Having voted for Giuliani I urged the members of
A.R.T.I.S.T., which was then a brand new group, not to attack the Mayor but
to give him a chance to respond and set things right. I respectfully
negotiated with members of his administration, but we got nowhere.
The rest is history. I and my group eventually became Rudy Giuliani's most
persistent, most visible and most determined critics.
I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt, to assume that you are not as
yet aware of what happened this past Saturday in SoHo and that once you find
out about it, you will immediately set things straight. As in 1994 the
members of my group are clamoring for me to begin organizing protests, this
time against you.
I've contacted a number of your deputy Mayors and your press secretary, Ed
Skyler, who knows me for a few years, about what happened and asked them to
convey this message to you. I hope that by now they've done so.
In 1994 Rudy Giuliani seriously underestimated the ability of street artists
to win in court or to affect his image. He laughed us off in 1994 but by
1995 and right through the rest of his term in office he wasn't laughing.
You'll find my Giuliani portraits and signs in media coverage of him by
every media outlet in the world. Our lawsuits against Giuliani are studied
in universities and law schools across America. Mr. Skyler can attest to our
determination once aroused.
We are now aroused.
Eight years of being abused is enough. The City has already wasted millions
of dollars on our lawsuits with millions more still pending. How much the
Giuliani administration spent falsely arresting us and pretending to
prosecute our cases (in eight years not one case was ever prosecuted against
a NYC street artist) is probably impossible to accurately estimate.
Our current pending lawsuit, Lederman et al v Giuliani has already been
decided in our favor by four different courts. Yet, Giuliani-like, your
Corporation Counsel is appealing yet again.
Meanwhile, throughout the City, the NYPD is harassing street artists in ways
that could almost make us miss Rudy Giuliani. What happened in SoHo on
Saturday is just one particularly graphic example. Even at his most
excessive Mayor Giuliani never had our property crushed in a garbage truck.
Mr. Mayor, I am appealing to you as a lifelong New Yorker who wants very
much to see you succeed, to please not ignore this issue. You've made it
clear that you are not Rudy Giuliani, which I think is a wise decision. I
hope you will not fall into the same trap of underestimating street artists.
We may not have lots of money but we do have an extraordinary degree of
access to the public and to the media through being on the street everyday.
This coming Saturday, weather permitting, we will be in SoHo on West
Broadway.
I invite you to come down there and address what happened. I will be on West
Broadway between Prince Street and Spring.
I also invite you to set up a meeting between myself and one of your aides
in order to discuss the general issue of street artist harassment by the
NYPD and the specific issue of compensating those whose property was
destroyed on 4/6. Perhaps for once we can work this out without it being
necessary to file still more lawsuits.
I hope in the very near future to be able to tell street artists and the
people of New York City that Mike Bloomberg is indeed a man who respects the
First Amendment and artists. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely Yours,
Robert Lederman
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