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--- Begin Message ----Caveat Lector- http://www.gothamgazette.com http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/arts/20040105/1/820Gotham Gazette 1/5/04 Artists' Fight To Sell On The Sidewalk by Martha Hostetter January, 2004 Ever since the founding of New Amsterdam, there have been battles over the right to control the public marketplace. The citys well-traveled sidewalks and parks offer enticing places to set up shop, whether youre selling books, art, knockoff purses, or hot dogs. The most recent battle has been simmering since last March, when a 1991 New York State law that regulated vending expired. Since then, vendors have been proliferating in Times Square, Canal Street, Battery Park, and Fifth Avenue, with their numbers peaking during the holiday season. In October, the Times Square B.I.D. counted 208 vendors in the area, 66 more than in March. Mayor Michael Bloomberg argues that the resulting sidewalk congestion creates a public safety issue, forcing pedestrians to spill out on to the street. This month, the State Assembly is likely to vote on legislation that would revise the old regulations and also place new restrictions on vending. Advocates for artist vendors say the proposed law infringes on their First Amendment rights and threatens their livelihood, and they have sworn to fight it. Through odd legal quirks, the fate of artist vendors is tied to that of veterans. The old law limited the number of disabled veterans allowed to sell on city streets. Once it expired, veterans could sell anywhere and street artists could follow, thanks to a Department of Consumer Affairs policy that states once a disabled veteran sets up shop on an otherwise restricted street, artists can also set up there legally. The proposed legislation [see below], which passed in the State Senate in June, would clarify regulations on veteran vendors, allow for fingerprinting of any vendor arrested for vending without a license, and prohibit vending altogether for several blocks around Ground Zero. The bill stalled when Democrats rejected the fingerprinting requirement, which they viewed as a threat to immigrant and minority rights (vendors would get permanent criminal records, even if their license had only recently expired). To its supporters, fingerprinting would be a security measure and a way to deter those without permits from selling. A related bill before the City Council proposes to create a permit system for vendors of written matter in all city parks, even though such a system was found to be unconstitutional in the past. Like immigrants, minorities, and disabled veterans, artist vendors tend to live near the poverty level and make their primary income on the street. While many hawk mass-produced prints of celebrities or landmarks, others sell original art that has not made it into museums or galleries. In the early 1990s, the city began requiring that artist vendors hold licenses, even though vendors of written matter did not need to do so. To protest this, a coalition of vendors formed A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) and filed suit against the city. From 1996 to 2001, the group won a series of cases, including one that the city appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The courts found that vendors of paintings, sculpture, prints, and photographs have the same First Amendment rights to free _expression as those who sell written matter. A 1996 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that visual artwork 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 sale of protected materials is also protected. . . . Furthermore, street marketing is in fact a part of the message of appellants art. Anyone, not just the wealthy, should be able to view it and to buy it. The courts did not extend First Amendment protections to vendors of crafts, such as jewelry and pottery, though this exemption is now facing legal challenges. Today, A.R.T.I.S.T. has 1,000 members. The groups president, the painter Robert Lederman, says that the push to control vending is being led by Business Improvement Districts, which, he believes, want to protect established business interests and clear sidewalks for their own use. He claims that the B.I.D.s want to take out franchises on street furniture, such as planters and garbage cans, on which to sell advertising. Theres been a history of conflict between business interests and vendors, Lederman says. In the early part of the 20th century, the Fifth Avenue Association tried to remove Jewish vendors in front of stores. And in the 40s Mayor LaGuardia tried to ban vending at a time when there were more vendors than stores, when almost anything could be bought on the streets. Some store owners have complained that vending takes business away from rent-paying stores. But there is also evidence that shoppers prefer areas where street life is bustling; one study found that businesses in the Caribbean neighborhood along Flatbush Avenue suffered after unlicensed street vending was shut down. Lederman and other arts advocates argue that the city currently has enough tools to control vending, including regulations on how and where vendors can sell (20 feet from any storefront and 10 feet from a corner or subway entrance). In addition, the police can close any vending stand under exigent circumstances, including sidewalk congestion. According to a report by the Urban Justice Center, the Peddler Squad has become much more aggressive in giving out fines, closing down vendors, and confiscating goods for minor violations. Jack Nesbitt, who has been selling his paintings on city sidewalks for seven years, was arrested twice last year. The second time, police brought him in for not having a permit (which he didnt need), and then charged him with other violations, including being too close to a storefront. They didnt even pull out a tape measure when they arrested me. I had to take my own time to go to criminal court, where the sentences were dismissed, Nesbitt says. Free enterprise needs to start somewhere, and vendors are often the seeds. Martha Hostetter has written about the arts for the Village Voice, American Theater and Empire New York. http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A09054 Bill Summary - A09054 Back | New York State Bill Search | Assembly Home See Bill Text A09054 Summary: SAME AS No same as SPONSOR RULES COM Sanders COSPNSR Tocci MLTSPNSR Amd S35-a, Gen Bus L; amd SS17-315, 17-321, 20-465, 20-468 & 20-473, NYC Ad Cd; amd S160.10, CP L; amd S3, Chap 227 of 1998 Relates to veteran vendors by subjecting specialized vending license holders to certain ten foot curb restrictions in cities having a population of one million or more; prohibits general vendors in NYC from vending on certain streets and further makes permanent the provisions of chapter 227 of the laws of 1998; further provides for fingerprinting for general vending without a license. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- A09054 Actions: 06/16/2003 referred to cities 06/18/2003 reported referred to codes 06/19/2003 reported referred to rules ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- A09054 Votes: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- A09054 Memo: TITLE OF BILL : An act to amend the general business law, in relation to veteran vendors in cities having a population of one million or more; to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to prohibiting general vendors from vending on certain streets; to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to providing for fingerprinting for general vending without a license; and to amend chapter 227 of the laws of 1998 amending the general business law relating to veterans of the armed forces who vend in cities having a population of one million or more, in relation to making permanent the provisions of such chapter PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : The purpose of this bill is to extend and modify provisions of law related to a system for vending in the city of New York for veterans who have physical disabilities. SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS : This bill would extend Chapter 227 of the laws of 1998 related to disabled veteran vendors in the City of New York, and also amends certain provisions of S35-a of the general business law. The bill would do the following: * Add forty specialized vending licenses (those held by disabled veteran vendors) for combat wounded veterans, and clarify that specialized license holders may vend outside the Midtown restricted core; * Require specialized license holders to vend in as close adherence as possible to provisions restricting vendors from vending within 10 feet of a corner when the placement of an obstruction causes noncompliance with such restriction; * Increase from one to two the number of disabled veterans authorized to vend on a block face in areas where the City otherwise prohibits general vending, and amend the pedestrian path width to ten feet to conform with similar provisions in the bill; * Allow disabled veteran vendors to have up to three sales assistants for the purposes of handling merchandise, but who would be prohibited from handling money; * Allow only an officer of the NYC Police Department to order a disabled veteran vendor to move from his or her vending spot under exigent circumstances. * Provide for a one-time transfer of a specialized vending license to a spouse, an adult child, or to the guardian of a dependent child if the veteran becomes totally disabled and the license is needed to continue to provide for the veteran or the dependent child; * Require the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs to publish educational materials describing the state and local laws governing disabled veteran vending in New York City and enforcement thereof; * Allow for the fingerprinting of any vendor arrested for vending without a license; * Remove restrictions on specialized vending licenses in the event that NYC lifts restrictions on general vendors as to time, place or number of vendors; and * Make permanent the provisions of S35-a of the General Business Law, as amended by this bill. In addition to the above provisions, this bill would prohibit all vending in the area surrounded on the west by West Street, on the north by Vesey Street, on the east by Broadway and on the south by Liberty Street. In addition, all general vending would be prohibited on Broadway extending north to Murray Street and south to Battery Place and on Park Row from Ann Street to Spruce Street. JUSTIFICATION : Chapter 227 of the laws of 1998 expired on March 1, 2003. This legislation would provide the City of New York limited authority to regulate vending in order to facilitate public safety in specific congested areas of the City. PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY : 1998: A.9873 - Chapter 227 of the Laws of 1998 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS : None to the state. EFFECTIVE DATE : Immediately. ---------------------------------------- INTRO # 160 The full text of the bill is at: http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/textfiles/Int%200160-2002.htm Int. No. 160 proposed in 2002 By Council Members Addabbo, Comrie, Diaz, Foster, Perkins and Golden (by request of the Mayor) ..Title A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in order to clarify the express authority of the commissioner of parks and recreation to regulate the vending of written matter within the geographical areas under the jurisdiction of parks and recreation. For info on this issue contact: Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) (201) 896-1686 (if busy call) cellphone 201 952-2127 [EMAIL PROTECTED] websites: [Recent news. See links page for entire vending law, legal rulings etc.] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/ [Earlier vending articles, news, rulings] http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html ALSO see: Gotham Gazette 1/5/04 Artists' Fight To Sell On The Sidewalk NY Times Editorial page 1/4/04 OP-ED Let New York's Veterans Vend NY Post Editorial 1/2/04 SILVER FOR UNSAFE STREETS NY Post BLAME ALBANY GRIDLOCK FOR NIGHTMARE CONGESTION NY Post 12/31/03 NYERS GET FED UP WITH HAWKER CLOG NY Post 12/31/03 BIZARRE BAZAAR HURTING CITY'S P.R. NY Press 12/30/03 Scrubbing First Amendment Ave. Who's behind the war against the vendors? by Robert Lederman NY Times City Section 12/21/03 Ye Olde Coniferous Tree Exception Daily News 12/19/03 City lets foul food carts stew NY Post 12/19/03 NEW YUCK CITY FOOD VENDORS NY Post 12/19/03 KNOCKOFF SALES SACK CITY PURSE NY Times 12/19/03 Comptroller Urges Crackdown on Pushcart Food Monitoring AM-NY Editorial 12/9/03 Street Vendors Are Worse Than Presidential Gridlock NY Post Editorial 12/8/03 VENDOR VILLAINY Daily News 12/7/03 Home front battle lines Daily News 12/7/03 by Johnathan Capehart Clear sidewalks of New York 12/6/03 Daily News editorial Blame Silver & Bruno Daily News 12/3/03 Mike tags vendors as dangerous NY Post 12/3/03 BLOOMY TRIES TO SELL ALBANY ON VENDOR LAW NY Times 12/5/03 Albany Fails to Pass a Bill to Regulate New York City's Vendors NY Post 12/05/03 POLS SURRENDER TO THE VENDORS Daily News 12/5/03 City shopping for help with vendor rules NY Times editorial 12/4/03 FIXING ALBANY How Hard Is It to Control the Vendors? NY Times 12/2/03 At Crossroads of World, Gridlock on the Sidewalks Daily News lead editorial 11/29/03 Sweep the peddlers off the streets Daily News 12/2/03 Canny ad plan City trashes sponsors - for a fee (BIDs install 400 ad-covered trash cans in Times Sq] CRAINS NY BUSINESS 11/24/03 Street vendors raise ruckus, add to the holiday crush; Businesses calling for restrictions; First Amendment issue Daily News 11/10/03 New York or Bangkok? Army of street vendors gives city Third World feel Daily News editorial 11/10/03 They're sidewalks, not bazaars New York Post 6/18/03 VENDING HAGGLE NY Times 7/10/03 Veterans, Vendors and Beaten Paths The Villager 7/24/03 Artists and city view permits ruling differently Daily News 5/10/03 City gags on vendor tax bills NY Post 5/10/03 'DEADBEAT' PRETZEL TWIST NY Times 9/4/02 Commerce Rushes in Where Art Once Ruled Newsday 5/20/02 Street Artists Refuse to Be Curbed NY Sun 1/8/03 To Vend Or Not To Vend NY Sun 12/24/02 City Is Planning New Rules For Vendors NY Sun Editorial 8/15/02Paranoid Protesting NY Sun 8/14/02 Parks Commissioner Planning a Crackdown On Venders of Artwork NY Times 8/11/01 Judge Bars Permit Requirement for Art Vendors NY Post 8/11/2001Court: Permit Art Without Permit Newsday 8/11/2001 Judge: Street artists no longer have to buy vendor permits Newsday 1/28/03 Selling Art In Parks At Issue OUR TOWN 2/13/03 City May Subject Park Artists to Permit System, Many cite First Amendment violations NY Sun 1/28/03 Venders Protest City Plan To Require Park Permits Newsday 1/22/03 Putting Burgers Before Art Parks Commissioner Wants Artists Out, Fast Food In NY Newsday Jan 20, 2003 Wendy's Plan Makes Park A Garden of Eatin'; Fast food on public property New York Sun 9/24/02 ARTISTS GAIN STRENGTH IN FIGHT WITH MAYOR www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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