For immediate release (7/20/98):
By Robert Lederman
provided through OPENAIR-MARKET NET
Dear Editor,
So having dancers wear bikinis won't be enough to stop Ayatollah Giuliani's imminent crackdown on xxx businesses. "There'll be no warnings...they're not only going to have to get around things, they're going to have to reform themselves and change the essential nature of the kind of operation that they are," the Mayor said.
Reform is a great idea, but perhaps Mr. Giuliani should clean up his own and his administration's behavior first. Here are a few ironies from Giuliani's Corporate Police State. The Midtown police that arrest hookers, johns and xxx business operators run their own houses of prostitution. While forcing handicapped welfare mothers into a workfare program the Mayor appoints unqualified relatives of his top advisors to high paying government jobs. While aggressively forcing "moral reform" the Mayor is publicly having an adulterous affair with a top staff member. Thousands are arrested in City Parks for an open beer while the Parks Department sells franchises to allow alcoholic beverages to be sold next to playgrounds. Street artists give public parks a "flea market" like atmosphere according to Parks Commissioner Stern, who has begun selling Parks Department franchises to McDonalds.
Let's really reform New York City. Impeach Giuliani now!
--Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T., (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
You can contact Mr. Lederman by phone: (718) 369-2111; Email: <ARTISTpres@aol.com>. Learn more about this struggle for free speech and justice by visiting the ARTIST website <http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html>.