Artist Protesters arrested
at 5/15/98 Giuliani Photo Show Opening

Mayor Giuliani s disregard for artists  First Amendment rights
reached a new low yesterday outside the official opening of his
photo show at the Leica Gallery, #670 Broadway. More than 100
police officers, including numerous commanders, inspectors,
captains, N.Y.P.D. Intelligence Division officers and a special riot
unit were deployed in order to keep a handful of artist protesters
from being seen by media or by the Mayor as he entered his show.

Artists arrived for the scheduled protest at 11 A.M. and displayed
protest signs and large unflattering portraits of the Mayor inside
police barricades that were set up by the police for the
demonstration in front of the gallery and near its side entrance on
Bond Street. Apparently the proximity of actual artists to the
gallery where Giuliani was unveiling his first art show was
unacceptable to the Mayor.

A few minutes before Giuliani arrived at 12:30, Inspector
Lawrence, the Commanding Officer of the 9th Precinct told the
protesters, led by Robert Lederman President of A.R.T.I.S.T., that
the barricades would have to be removed and that they would be
set up a block away from the gallery. When Lederman pointed out
that this violated their basic right to engage in a peaceful protest
and that the artists would not accept being removed from the area,
the Inspector conferred with Intelligence Division officers from
Giuliani s office on the scene. The police then closed off the entire
block and told the artists they d be arrested. Lederman and four
other protesters, Wei Zhang, Jack Nesbitt, Thomas Dukleth and
Mega Flash a street performer, were handcuffed minutes before the
Mayor arrived. The artists were arrested as they peaceably walked
in a circle outside the side entrance to the gallery carrying the
portraits of Mayor Giuliani. The portraits were confiscated by
Intelligence Division police and taken along with the artists to the
9th Precinct.

Five hours later the artists, all of whom were charged with
Disorderly Conduct, were released with desk appearance tickets
and returned to the protest. During the five hours Lederman and
the other artists were in custody the remaining protesters and the
barricades were moved by the police five different times, including
at one point to Lafayette and West 3rd Street, which is almost two
blocks from the gallery.

When Lederman returned to the protest he was informed by
Inspector Lawrence that he d be arrested if he displayed a single
sign, gave a speech or walked in front of the Leica Gallery. The
police then closed off the entire eastern side of Broadway where
the gallery was located, forcing pedestrians to walk to the western
side. When other demonstrators arrived at 6 P.M. from the Lower
East Side Collective and Times Up to protest the Mayor s
destruction of Community Gardens, police swarmed around them
arresting another artist, Peggy Hung, and a bicycle activist who
asked the police why he couldn t ride on the eastern side of
Broadway. Police then physically forced all of the protesters into a
pen more than a block away from the gallery at the northwest
corner of 3rd Street and Broadway. A riot unit of approximately 40
officers that had remained hidden on Mercer Street was then
stationed around the pen and each officer was issued three sets of
plastic handcuffs.
At approximately 7 P.M. Giuliani arrived for his second
appearance, surrounded by Intelligence Division officers and his
security detail. All pedestrian and vehicular traffic was stopped for
his arrival. He was rushed into the gallery as protesters, horse from
more than eight hours of demonstrating shouted,  Stop Arresting
Artists  and  Giuliani Equals Police State . Reporters, protesters
and the general public were all prevented from getting anywhere
near the gallery by the police.

This was Lederman s thirty second arrest for protesting against the
Mayor s artist arrest policy. Wei Zhang, who left China after
police destroyed his painting in Tianimen Square, told the 9th
Precinct police that he d never been arrested in China, and that
artists there were allowed to sell their paintings on the street
without a license.

A.R.T.I.S.T. members plan to join students at Cooper Union on
May 27th to protest Giuliani giving a commencement speech there.
Students at the art school have been circulating a petition asking
that the Mayor not be allowed to address them, citing his terrible
record of abusing artists  rights.

Contact#: Robert Lederman (718) 369-2111 E-Mail:
[log in to unmask]
 To read the 2nd circuit decision granting street artists full First
Amendment protection go to:
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
Mayor s Press Office 788-2958; Parks Comm. Henry Stern
360-1305; Thomas Rozinski, legal counsel Parks 360-1314;
William Leurs, Pres. Met Museum 570-3900; Museum Press
office 570-3951
*Also see: N.Y. Times Editorial 4/28/98,  Restoring the City Arts
Budget ; N.Y. Times 4/24/98,  MOMA to Get $65 Million for
Expansion ; NY Times 3/2/98 B1  Artists Arrested in Protest
Near Museum ;  Newsday 3/2/98 A7; Village Voice 2/24/98 pg 57
 Chronic Offender ; Newsday 2/26/98 A8; NY Times editorial
3/4/98; Newsday 3/16/98 pg 4. NY TIMES Metro pg 1 3/22/98
 War of the Paintbrushes ; Time Out 4/16-23/98 pg. 39  Brush
With Danger ; N.Y. Times Metro 4/18/98  Judge Upholds Limit
on Artists Selling Pictures Near Museum ; Newsday 4/20/98 cover
story  Under Giuliani City Has Repeatedly Stifled Dissent ; N.Y.
Times 5/7/98 pg B4  For Giuliani, A Different Big Picture .

"Freedom," Giuliani argued, "is about authority. Freedom is
about the willingness of every single human being to cede to
lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and
how you do it." New York Newsday pg A3 4/20/98  Taking
Liberties / Courts, critics fault Rudy on free speech, public access

Photos and tape recordings of the arrests available to the media