Friends, If you turned on your local PBS affiliate last Monday, you may have heard this piece on either 'Morning Edition' or 'All Things Considered' . It was suprised me because it included a snippet of testimony that I had given in support of the pro-parks Intro at the NYC Council last January. I guess it takes that long for a public space issue, if it is deemed important enough, to surface in the national media.
It is an interesting discussion on the use of public space, pro and con, and may be of interest to readers of this listserve. For those who like to read legislative statements, if you e-mail me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED], I can send you the complete text of my testimony on Intro 160. Best wishes, Adam Honigman Volunteer, <A HREF="http://www.clintoncommunitygarden.org/";>Clinton Community Garden</A> National Public Radio All Things Considered, National Public Radio June 16, 2003 Profile: New York City street vendors resist Intro 160 Edition: 8:00-9:00 PM Estimated printed pages: 3 Article Text: MICHELE NORRIS, host: >From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. For years, New York City street artists have fought the city over whether they have a right to sell, display and make art in public spaces. Mostly they've won. But city officials say that since the September 11th attacks, vendors have overwhelmed the city's parks and they say it's time to rein them in with a new permit system. They're pushing for a new law to do just that. It's called Intro 160. NPR's Margot Adler reports. MARGOT ADLER reporting: If you walk on Fifth Avenue near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you will see the art vendors. Their tables start just left of the museum's entrance. They sell photographs, prints, original paintings, even Russian dolls. Many of the tables sport a little yellow sign that says `Stop Intro 160.' A French couple comes by and looks at two paintings by one artist. Unidentified Man: Those are very beautiful. But we are going to negotiate with him because he speaks very good French, and I think he's a very good commercial man. ADLER: The vendors seem harmless enough, but at a hearing this past winter, the always colorful former parks commissioner, Henry Stern, said city parks had become sprawling Middle Eastern bazaars. Mr. HENRY STERN (Former New York City Parks Commissioner): You can't get to see the park anymore on a nice warm day without fighting your way through this profusion and proliferation of commercial vendors, many of whom are selling things which they didn't even make themselves. They bought it like tchotchkes from another merchant and they're retailers, you know, retailer of commodities. ADLER: The present parks commission, Adrian Benepe, says it isn't unusual to see 50 vendors on a single park path with visitors forced to walk a gauntlet, particularly in the parks near ground zero. On the other side of the argument, there are street artists like Mark Nelson, who paints the intricate designs of manhole covers on pieces of cloth. Mr. MARK NELSON (Street Artist): Since I paint on the street, I cannot paint when it rains. I cannot paint when it's too windy because I lay the canvas down on the street. So a permit system that says I can do it for this month wouldn't work. I need to be able to have, and I love having, the freedom as a New York City street artist to be able to paint the street, embrace the street and celebrate the street and express my love for the city that I live in. ADLER: Protests over Intro 160 took place this year led by the group ARTIST, Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics. The group was founded by Robert Lederman, who has been involved in most of the legal fights between art vendors and the city. Lederman has been arrested many times and he argues the current vending code has more than 60 rules; no more are needed. He also argues that the city has a hidden agenda to privatize the public parks, and that one city park already closes for weeks for a fashion show. `In an ideal world, a permit system or lottery wouldn't be so horrible,' he says, `but we've had 10 years of bad experiences with the city.' Mr. ROBERT LEDERMAN (ARTIST): We have an awful lot of day-to-day experience about where they want to go with this. They basically want to, more or less, get rid of us, and the lottery and the permit is the way that they intend to do it. ADLER: `The bottom line,' he says, `is we have won in the courts.' Artists can create and sell art anywhere on public property in New York City without a license. But Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says the courts have always recognized restrictions based on time, place and manner. Commissioner ADRIAN BENEPE (New York City Parks): Your rights to produce a pamphlet and freely circulate ideas ends when you start to put up the printing press on the corner and block traffic, and your right to hold a demonstration and express your ideas ends when you want to hold that demonstration at rush hour on the Brooklyn Bridge. ADLER: And many community activists take his side. At one of the hearings, Adam Honigman of the Clinton Community Garden put it in these terms. Mr. ADAM HONIGMAN (Clinton Community Garden): The idea that any non-sales tax-paying opportunist with a stack of cheap tourist photos, especially those shameful 9/11 things that are all over the city, could set up shop in our little slice of heaven is absolutely shameful. ADLER: And those photos of the World Trade Center are everywhere. But back in front of the Metropolitan Museum, Elaine Ward, a tourist from Louisiana, has just bought a photograph of Central Park and she's happy. Ms. ELAINE WARD (Tourist): We're used to the vendors, of course, you know, because of the French Quarter, but this is great just to see it touch New York and bring back some memories with us, so... ADLER: Intro 160 will be voted on by the City Council this fall. Meanwhile, the number of vendors is actually down right now, the result of a declining economy and a rainy spring. But when asked if the problem was overstated, Commissioner Benepe said, `Wait for a hot summer day.' Margot Adler, NPR News, New York. Copyright ©2003 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. 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