For Immediate Release: 2/26/97
Giuliani Administration Appeals Street Artist Case to
U.S. Supreme Court

New York may be the world's art capital and a historic center for free
speech but the Giuliani Administration has zero tolerance for artists'
First Amendment rights. City attorneys filed an appeal today with the
U.S. Supreme Court seeking to reverse a Second Circuit Federal
Appeals Court ruling declaring that, "Paintings, photographs, prints
and sculptures, such as those appellants seek to display and sell in
public areas of the City...are entitled to full First Amendment
protection."

The Federal ruling had severely criticized the Giuliani Administration's
street artist arrest policy, calling it "myopic" and, "unduly restricted"
and concluded that, "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". The
City's position, as described in its legal briefs, is that visual art is
unworthy of Constitutional protection; that sidewalk art displays
encourage petty crime, litter and a diminished quality of life; and that
public displays of fine art are a serious threat to public health and
safety.

The controversial arrest policy began in 1993 due to pressure from real
estate interests led by the Fifth Avenue Association, the City's four
most powerful Business Improvement Districts, the SoHo Alliance and
City Council Member for SoHo, Kathryn Freed. On 2/28/96 Freed and
the real estate interests filed an amicus brief in Federal Court claiming,
"The sale of artwork does not involve communication of thoughts or
ideas" and warning of, "the dangers of allowing visual art full First
Amendment protection". Between 1993 and 1996 more than 400 New
York City artists were handcuffed and arrested for displaying or selling
original paintings, photographs, sculptures and limited edition prints
on the street. Not one artists' case was ever brought to trial yet the
City
systematically destroyed the thousands of works of art it confiscated.

In 1994 members of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State
Tactics) filed suit in Federal Court [95-9089 Lederman et al v. City of
New York] charging Mayor Giuliani and various Administration
officials with violating their First Amendment right to speech and
Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. To show paintings on
the street, artists were required to get a vending license which the
City's own legal briefs candidly described as, "unobtainable". At the
same time the City allowed an unlimited number of book, magazine and
baseball card vendors to sell on the street without a license or permit
of any kind, based on First Amendment freedom.

       A.R.T.I.S.T. president Robert Lederman, a plaintiff in the Federal
suit
       who has been arrested thirteen times for selling his paintings,
promises
       to keep showing his art on the street regardless of how the case
finally
       turns out. He's hoping both Freed and Giuliani can be voted out of
       office this Fall. "These corrupt City officials make a public show
of
       supporting the cultural venues of their wealthy campaign
contributors
       but they neither respect nor understand artists, culture or the
U.S.
       Constitution", he said. "Eliminating free speech rights, destroying
       works of art and arresting artists is the kind of criminally
misguided
       policy found in dictatorships like Iran, Nazi Germany or the
People's
       Republic of China. Mayor Giuliani and Council Member Freed are
       attacking artists' rights in order to please the real estate
interests that
       put them in office. If they prevail before the Supreme Court and
       eliminate constitutional protection for visual art, this nation's
artistic
       community will be plunged into a medieval age of fear, censorship
and
       government repression."

       For detailed information on the street artist Federal lawsuit or
       A.R.T.I.S.T. visit the A.R.T.I.S.T. web page at:
       http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html [It includes
       contact #'s; a bibliography of newspaper articles; the case's
rulings;
       previous press releases; descriptions of arrests, etc.] or contact
Robert
       Lederman (718) 369-2111 or (212)  334-4327 Press kits, photos etc.
       available on request.