For Immediate Release (3/20/98):
Press Conference Friday: 3/20/98, 10 A.M. Federal Court Bldg. #500 Pearl St. (one block East of Centre St.)
[If it is raining hard the press conference will be held at Andrew Miltenberg's office 10 A.M. #245 5th Ave. 9th floor]
provided through OPENAIR-MARKET NET
Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) and attorney Andrew Miltenberg of Nesenoff & Miltenberg [(212) 481-4242] will hold a press conference on the steps of the Federal Court Building #500 Pearl St. today at 10 A.M. to announce the filing of a $200,000,000 civil rights lawsuit. The suit alleges numerous counts of false arrest, selective enforcement and First Amendment violations and claims Mayor Giuliani repeatedly has Lederman arrested in order to censor his speech.
The suit also charges the City and the Department of Parks with ignoring a 1996 2nd circuit Federal Appeals court ruling which stated, "...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 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".
On June 2nd 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Mayor Giuliani's attempt to appeal the decision. Mayor Guliani, the Parks Department and the NYPD were defendants in the suit. Despite the court ruling, numerous artists have been issued summonses, had art confiscated and been arrested in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art since March 1st when the Parks Department initiated its new artist-permit policy. Lederman is joined in the suit by the group A.R.T.I.S.T. and three of its members, Knut Masco, Wei Zhang and Jack Nesbitt, all of whom have been arrested or had their art confiscated in front of the museum.
Since 1993 Lederman has been arrested 27 times and become known as one of the Mayor's most persistent critics. For the past 24 days he's led a protest in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in defiance of the Parks Department's artist-permit. Lederman's arrests, all of which involve his use of First Amendment protected expression to oppose Mayor Giuliani's "quality of life" agenda, include charges of selling art without a Parks Department permit, posting a N.Y. Times editorial criticizing the Parks Dept. on Park property, inciting a riot, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct, ignoring the pedestrian barricades at 50th St. and 5th Ave. and defacing sidewalks by writing "Giuliani=Police State" with a piece of chalk near the Mayor's van.
Andrew Miltenberg Esq., Lederman's attorney, issued the following statement in connection with this lawsuit: "I believe that whether Robert Lederman gets to speak, protest or sell his art on the street today may make a difference for every American's freedom 20 years from now. This is a battle about free speech, civil freedom and public space. Under Mayor Giuliani, New Yorkers have been subjected to a piecemeal erosion of their civil liberties. Now the Mayor is attempting to position himself for higher office in the hope of spreading his brand of selective arrest and constitutional violations to a national arena. We want the entire nation to understand that for Giuliani, "quality of life" literally means a Police State; misusing police resources for political ends, the repression and intimidation of political opponents and minorities, the privatization of public space and attacks on the speech rights of artists, protesters and the media. Long before this was the tourist capital of the world it was the free speech capital of the world. We believe authentic quality of life begins with the civil freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights".
For more information or a copy of the legal complaint filed today contact: Andrew Miltenberg (212) 481-4242 or Robert Lederman (718) 369-2111; E-Mail: ARTISTpres@aol.com To read the 2nd circuit decision 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 Parks360-1314; William Leurs, Pres. Met Museum 570-3900; Museum Press office 570-3951;
Also see: NY Times 3/2/98 B1; Newsday 3/2/98 A7; Village Voice 2/24/98 pg 57; Newsday 2/26/98 A8; NY Times 6/3/97 B2; NY Times editorial 3/4/98; Newsday 3/16/98 pg 4.