To clarify a couple of garbled and misleading falsehoods below -- Rittenhouse Square regulations and Clark Park regulations are completely unrelated. The first is governed by Fairmount Park, the second by the Recreation Dept. They are entirely separate bureaucracies.
The Rec Dept.'s permits make no mention of music whatsoever. Amplified sound in any form is what Rec regulates in Clark Park as elsewhere. Acoustic musicians have always been free to use Rec's community parks as they will. Rec's Parks Coordinator's guidelines for 2007 are posted on the Clark Park website, www.clarkpark.info. Special event permits have been issued by Rec for 2007 as always. Rec always seeks to balance the interests of all community user groups. No one user group has ever been completely free to do whatever it wishes with the park, without regard to the wishes of others or to the maintenance needed for this parcel of City property. No user group can command unlimited freedom to exploit the park, which is a fragile, scarce, costly and cherished resource belonging to all citizens. Rec's permits continue to facilitate the Clark Park Festivals and the Woodland Ave. Reunion, as always, and no change in this tradition is contemplated by anyone. -- Tony West FoCP Large Event Committee Chair From: Glenn To: [email protected] "On March 27th a man was arrested in Rittenhouse Square for singing a song. Since then people have been told to stop playing instruments of any kind, threatened with tickets and harassed. This legally unfounded behavior by several Rittenhouse police officers, who prohibit people from freely expressing themselves in a public park, flagrantly threatens our constitution and our essential liberty. Neighbors, you can now be arrested for any singing in the Square if you have not acquired a city permit for a performance. The cost of the permit is $250.00. As in Clark Park, the purpose of a permit or reservation for a "special use" of the public land is being used to infringe on the rights of the people. Cloaked as a "quality of life issue" the misuse of this concept is part of the effort to create two levels of rights and rules over the people. The "permit" for public parks was designed to facilitate events like a Clark Park festival and Woodland Reunion. The parks belong to ALL OF THE CITIIZENS OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. In order to facilitate special events, permission to use the land for a special purpose was designed to allow the people to plan these types of special community celebrations. Otherwise, the people are free to come to their park and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The permit has become the tool of "neighborhood cranks," their associations, and corporate partners to harass and infringe upon the basic rights of the people. These basic rights are truly the only hope separating us from tyranny. How much closer must we get before we recognize the early stages of tyranny?????????????????
