For immediate release (2/3/99)
Vendors Plan Anti-Giuliani Demo, February 10, 1999
by Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)<ARTISTpres@aol.com>
provided through OPENAIR-MARKET NET
Wednesday, Feb. 10th there will be a major demonstration by street artists, food vendors, book vendors, veteran and general vendors to protest the closing of more than 100 more streets to vending as ordered by Mayor Giuliani's Street Vendor Review Panel [see NY Times January 23, 1999 "Compromise Plan on Vendors Is Approved"].
Time: 12 noon.
Place: City Hall (the Broadway side).
Every street being closed is within one of the City's wealthiest Business Improvement Districts. No objective criteria (unless political contributions and lobbying fees qualify as "criteria") were used in deciding which streets to close. These street closings are about corruption not congestion.
See also: City Council Activities and the Vendor Ban.
Comments by Robert Lederman
Vending is a time-honored form of legitimate business that has existed in New York City since the 1600's and continues throughout most of the world. In fact, vending is the original form of business. Most commercial strips in cities developed where vendors congregated, including Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. According to the Fifth Avenue BID's director of public safety Robert Loutitt, Fifth Avenue was originally known as "Peddler's Row."
Throughout New York City history vending has provided an entry to the American dream. Many middle class and wealthy New Yorkers were sent to college by immigrant parents who earned their living as street vendors. Among the city's earliest vendors were escaped slaves and free African Americans. As new waves of immigrants came to New York City they established themselves by vending. Central Americans, Eastern European Jews, Italians, Greeks, Koreans, Caribbean-Americans, Russians, Senegalese, Chinese, Egyptians and many other ethnic groups renowned for their business success started as vendors.
Since the administration of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (Mayor Giuliani's idol) there has been a ruthless war on vendors by City government on behalf of large corporations and real estate interests. In the 1980's these same business interests created the BIDs. Using vendors as convenient scapegoats they blame us for petty crime, litter, and their own business failures. In language reminiscent of Hitler describing the Jews they've called vendors parasites, unhygienic, criminal and unsightly. To legally justify new restrictions on our activities they invent wildly exaggerated claims that we congest streets, threaten public safety and make people sick from our food products. The facts are quite different. Articles in the Times, Post, Daily News and Newsday during 1998 show that the BID members' own stores, giant office buildings, restaurants, theaters and corporate promotions (like the Macy's parade, the Times Sq. BIDs' New Years party and the Mayor's numerous ego-inflating parades) are the City's largest cause of congestion. Goldman Sachs' free limo parking strip along Front, Wall, Water and Pearl Sts (courtesy of Mayor Giuliani) causes more congestion than all of the City's vendors combined. As a Daily News expose showed, restaurants within the BIDs, not vendors, are the primary cause of food related illness in New York.
The Mayor's efforts to eliminate vendors cannot even charitably be described as a misguided effort to satisfy quality of life demands. During the massive vendor protest held last June a number of polls were taken of local residents, storeowners and workers by the City's daily papers. The vast majority of New Yorkers said they wanted the vendors to remain.
We intend to do exactly that.
There has been a lot of disinformation from the BIDs, the Street Vendor Review Panel and Mayor Giuliani on vending. The reality is that there's no "compromise" in the works nor have there been "negotiations" by the City with representatives of vendors. The warrant system that's proposed is not meant to, "help vendors find a spot" but is intended to replace them with corporate vendors (Disney, McDonalds etc. and advertising).
Rather than being dependent on the Mayor, the BID's or the City Council the future of vending in N.Y.C. may be determined by street artists and book vendors suing and getting an injunction to stop the Mayor and the BIDs. The proposed lawsuit will be based on the arbitrary street restrictions and the warrant system violating First Amendment freedom. Discussions are taking place with the NYCLU on this matter.
We look forward to holding a peaceful and successful demonstration on Wednesday 2/10/99 and on seeing vending continue in New York City for many years to come.
PLEASE COPY THIS AND GIVE IT TO EVERY VENDOR YOU KNOW