1/14/89
For Immediate Release:

A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artist s Response To Illegal State Tactics)
President Robert Lederman was arrested in front of City Hall
today during the Mayor s State of the City speech. Lederman
had used a piece of chalk to write,  GIULIANI =POLICE
STATE  on the street near Giuliani s parked white sports
utility vehicle. He was immediately surrounded by police,
arrested and dragged into the basement of City Hall where he
watched the Mayor s speech on a T.V. monitor while
surrounded by police officers. Police officials immediately
washed the chalk off of the street near Giuliani s vehicle.

Lederman was held for three hours at the First Precinct and
charged with Defacement of Property. While in custody he
was interrogated by three N.Y.P.D. Intelligence officers and
asked if he intended to kill the Mayor. This is Lederman s 17th
arrest on speech related charges. He has never been found
guilty on any of the charges. The arresting officer is P.O.
Meeks. Arraignment is scheduled for 2/17/98 at 346
Broadway.

For information contact: (718) 369-2111
 e-mail [log in to unmask]
A.R.T.I.S.T. web site
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
Photos and a tape recording of the incident are available.
First Precinct (212) 334-0611 Mayor Giuliani's press office
212 788-2958

Background.
Brooklyn resident Robert Lederman has earned his living by
selling his own original paintings on the streets of New York
City for the past 35 years. Lederman is a plaintiff in the street
artist Federal lawsuit and President of A.R.T.I.S.T. He s been
arrested a total of 18 times for First Amendment protected
speech related activities. This breaks down to 12 times for
selling or displaying his art; three times for protesting artist
arrests in SoHo; one time for posting a political leaflet about
the street artist issue on a lightpole in SoHo [the case is now in
its eighth month in Criminal court]; one time in Washington
D.C. for handing out leaflets about the street artist issue in
front of the U.S. Capitol {a trial was held and a decision is still
pending; the judge resigned rather than rule on the case] and
now one time for using a piece of chalk to criticize Mayor
Giuliani.

Lederman believes that Giuliani has shown a consistent pattern
of contempt for New Yorker s Constitutional rights generally
and for First Amendment rights in particular. Police officials
have told Lederman that Giuliani personally ordered them to
arrest street artists. Reporters have told Lederman they were
threatened by the NYPD with being cutoff from Police
Department sources if they continued to cover the street artist
story. It s certain that if Lederman had written  Rudy Giuliani
is great  instead of  Giuliani = Police State  he d never have
been arrested. In other words, the arrest was based on
censorship of Lederman s political statement. Lederman and
members of A.R.T.I.S.T. intend to do a Chalk-In against the
pedestrian barriers in Midtown this coming week in order to
draw further attention to the Mayor s arbitrary limiting of basic
rights. Lederman discovered the chalk idea after being arrested
for posting a leaflet. He recycles and uses small squares of
drywall found in dumpsters and garbage cans on the street as
chalk. The chalk is non-permanent (it blows away by itself
after a few hours) and extremely noticeable.

1/15/98
Dear Editor,
Police State of the City
Watching the Mayors  State of the City address in handcuffs
from the basement of City Hall while surrounded by cops gave
me a real insight into what Giuliani means when he says, "This
is my chance to do all of the things that I was too timid and
restrained to do in the first administration."  I m one of the
 criminals  and  police bashers  he admonished before a
handpicked audience of admirerers enthusiastically clapping
and cheering on cue. My crime? Writing GIULIANI=POLICE
STATE with chalk on the asphalt near the Great Dictator s
armored car. Every day New York City moves closer to
becoming a caricature of a third world totalitarian state. All
that s needed to complete the picture is torch-lit rallys and a
snappy salute demonstrating our  respect  for police officials.

Robert Lederman
President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
255 13th St
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
718 369-2111