NYC Artists Under Attack Is City Council member Alan Gerson the Enemy of Art?
This week on Steal This Radio (#59), Artist Robert Lederman and host Mitchel Cohen issue an "art attack" call for artists throughout the New York City Metropolitan region to oppose new anti-artist vending legislation submitted by City Council member Alan Gerson. Lederman discusses his 15-year-long battle for freedom of speech for artists, and condemns the landlord-run SoHo Alliance and their buddy Gerson for their ongoing crusade against street artists and other vendors, and to privatize public space.
The show will be aired on Friday, October 10th, at 11 a.m., and rebroadcast on Tuesday, October 14th at 8 pm. You can only hear this over your computer -- not on regular radio. Just go to the following URL: <http://www.NYTalkRadio.net> and click on "LIVE". After that it will be podcast 24/7 over the internet.
Robert Lederman asks all artists and supporters to come to NY City Hall on Thursday, October 16th, at 10 a.m., when Gerson (whose term expires in 2009) will introduce 16 anti-artist bills into the NY City Council. Please be prepared to testify against all of these bills. (Gerson is also in large part responsible for the bulldozing of Washington Square Park, against the wishes of the community.)
Contact Robert at ArtistPres at gmail.com
Also, please Fax or call each of these City Council members who serve on the
Help ARTIST save your rights!
CONTACT INFO: A faxed or mailed letter is best. Keep it simple, clean and to the point. You can mail a letter to any councilmember at this address: Councilmember [
] 250 Broadway New York, NY 10007
Fax numbers for those on this committee: Councilmember Barron 1-718-649-3111
Consumer Affairs Committee lawyers 1-212-341-0363
Councilmember Comrie 1-212-788-7093
Councilmember Gennaro 1-212-788-6956
Councilmember Liu 1-212-788-8964 1-718-888-0331
Councilmember Gerson 1-212-788-7727
Councilmember James 1-212-788-7712
Councilmember Koppell 1-718-549-9945
Councilmember Mealy 1-212-442-0292
Councilmember Palma 1-212-788-1656
Councilmember Stewart 1-718-951-8191
Here are the emails of the committee members.
Councilmember Barron barron at council.nyc.ny.us
Councilmember Comrie comrie at council.nyc.ny.us
Councilmember Gennaro gennaro at council.nyc.ny.us
Councilmember Koppell koppell at council.nyc.ny.us
Councilmember Liu liu at council.nyc.ny.us LiuNewYork at gmail.com
Council Speaker, Christine Quinn Legislative Office Address City Hall New York, New York 10007 Legislative Office Phone (212) 788-7210 Legislative Office Fax (212) 788-7207 email quinn at council.nyc.ny.us
<addabbo at council.nyc.ny.us>, <arroyo at council.nyc.ny.us>, <avella at council.nyc.ny.us>, <baez at council.nyc.ny.us>, <barron at council.nyc.ny.us>, <boyland at council.nyc.ny.us>, <brewer at council.nyc.ny.us>, <clarke at council.nyc.ny.us>, <comrie at council.nyc.ny.us>, <deblasio at council.nyc.ny.us>, <emdilan at council.nyc.ny.us>, <felder at council.nyc.ny.us>, <fidler at council.nyc.ny.us>, <gallagher at council.nyc.ny.us>, <gennaro at council.nyc.ny.us>, <gentile at council.nyc.ny.us>, <gerson at council.nyc.ny.us>, <gioia at council.nyc.ny.us>, <jennings at council.nyc.ny.us>, <katz at council.nyc.ny.us>, <koppell at council.nyc.ny.us>, <liu at council.nyc.ny.us>, <martinez at council.nyc.ny.us>, <miller at council.nyc.ny.us>, <monserrate at council.nyc.ny.us>, <moskowitz at council.nyc.ny.us>, <nelson at council.nyc.ny.us>, <oddo at council.nyc.ny.us>, <perkins at council.nyc.ny.us>, <provenzano at council.nyc.ny.us>, <quinn at council.nyc.ny.us>, <recchia at council.nyc.ny.us>, <reed at council.nyc.ny.us>, <rivera at council.nyc.ny.us>, <sanders at council.nyc.ny.us>, <vann at council.nyc.ny.us>, <weprin at council.nyc.ny.us>, <yassky at council.nyc.ny.us>, <james at council.nyc.ny.us>,<Palma at council.nyc.ny.us>, "rmendez at council.nyc.gov" <rmendez at council.nyc.gov>, <stewart at council.nyc.ny.us>,
Local media: The Villager and The Downtown Express news at downtownexpress.com news at thevillager.com
Sample letter Dear Councilmember ..................,
I write to you in regard to the vending bills that are before the Consumer Affairs Committee.
I am a NYC street artist and a member of ARTIST. I have been selling my art on the street since .....
I have carefully read the text of the Intros proposed by Councilmember Gerson. I find these laws to be both unnecessary and harmful to my rights as a First Amendment protected artist.
The existing vending laws, most of which artists are subject to, are more than sufficient to maintain the public interest in safe streets. If there is a vending problem that needs to be addressed, all that is required is to enforce the existing laws. Sincerely Yours -------------------------------
PODCASTS at http://tribecaradio.net/wpradioblog/podcasts/stealthisradio/ , Show #56, #57 and #58 delve into the roots of the global economic crisis, the bailout of the billionaires, and Barack Obama's and John McCain's betrayal of the American people (includes an interview with Susan Brown <http://www.webofdebt.com> and another with Robin Eublind (Billionaires for Bush).