For Immediate Release: 6/2/97
Street Artist Federal ruling stands; U.S. Supreme Court
rejects Giuliani appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court today denied the Giuliani Administration's
appeal of the 2nd Circuit Federal Appeals Court decision in Lederman
et al v. City of New York. The ruling had affirmed that street artists
are protected by the First Amendment and can sell their art on City
streets without a license.
Police harassment against artists continued right up until this past
Sunday, with confiscations of paintings and artist's displays, threats
of arrest and numerous tickets being issued in SoHo. Members of
A.R.T.I.S.T. staged an impromptu demonstration on West Broadway
this Saturday after the police attempted to clear the street of artists,
claiming, "The landlords don't want artists here, we have many
complaints", and, "Giuliani appealed your case, we don't have to
follow the ruling".
From 1993 until 1997 the N.Y.P.D., under pressure from City
Council Member Kathryn Freed and a coalition of landlord
advocacy groups including the Fifth Avenue Association and the
SoHo Alliance, arrested more than 400 artists. Thousands of
original paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures were
confiscated and sold at a monthly police department auction or
destroyed by the City.
Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response
To Illegal State Tactics) issued this statement about the Supreme
Court's ruling:
"This decision protects the speech rights not just of artists, but
of every person in this country. N.Y.C. officials can no longer
ignore the Constitution just to please landlords and campaign
contributors. I hope that the Mayor and Council Member Freed
will carefully read the 2nd Circuit ruling and abide by it. Street
artists benefit the City. It's time for the City to recognize the
significant contribution artists make to New York's culture and
economy and to stop treating us like second class citizens."
For the entire text of the 2nd Circuit ruling and other detailed
information on this issue visit the A.R.T.I.S.T. web site at:
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
The 2nd Circuit Federal Appeals Court ruling unambiguously states:
"Visual art is as wide ranging in its depiction of ideas, concepts and
emotions as any book, treatise, pamphlet or other writing, and is
similarly entitled to full First Amendment protection....the City's
requirement that appellants be licensed in order to sell their artwork in
public spaces constitutes an unconstitutional infringement of their First
Amendment rights...Displaying art on the street has a different
expressive purpose than gallery or museum shows; it reaches people
who might not choose to go into a gallery or museum or who might feel
excluded or alienated from these forums. The public display and sale of
artwork is a form of communication between the artist and the public not
possible in the enclosed, separated spaces of galleries and museums...
Appellants are interested in attracting and communicating with the man
or woman on the street who may never have been to a gallery and indeed
who might never have thought before of possessing a piece of art until
induced to do so on seeing appellants' works. The sidewalks of the City
must be available for appellants to reach their public audience..."
Lederman et al v. City of New York 959089 United States Court of
Appeals, Second Circuit. Argued April 26, 1996. Decided Oct. 10,
1996.
For more information on A.R.T.I.S.T. call:
Robert Lederman (718) 369-2111 (212) 334-4327 E-mail
[log in to unmask] or visit the A.R.T.I.S.T. web site at:
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
Lawyers for the case: Wayne Cross and Randy Fox at Dewey
Ballentine 212 259-8000
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