Police arrest protesters in front of New York museum

By The Associated Press

03.02.98

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NEW YORK — City Parks Commissioner Henry Stern thinks the $25 permits required for art vendors to sell in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a bargain. About four dozen artists disagree.

A protest on March 1 at the Fifth Avenue museum ended with four arrests, 45 angry protesters and a vow from the group's leader to continue the demonstrations until the police and Parks Department "give up."

Protest organizer Robert Lederman, who heads Artists' Response to Illegal State Tactics, said he was arrested after he wrote "Giuliani = police state" on the sidewalk and led the crowd in a chant of "artists' power."

"We have no intention of giving up our First Amendment rights," said Lederman, insisting that selling art on the streets is a guaranteed freedom with or without a permit.

Stern however says the artists are getting a good deal.

"The hot dog vendor next to them pays $150,000 a year for that spot to sell hot dogs," he said. "The artists are getting a rock-bottom cost."

Of the four people arrested, two were charged with disorderly conduct and two others-including Lederman-were charged with incitement to riot, said Det. Robert Samuel, a police department spokesman. Stern said his agency's representatives began notifying vendors in early February about the new permit policy, which requires vendors to apply for permits at $25 per month for a specific spot.

"We like them," Stern said of the vendors. "We like the character that they bring.... All we want to do is regulate it, and we're doing that in a reasonable way. You also want to make sure that people pay their taxes."

The number of permits is limited to 24-12 on the north side of the museum's plaza and 12 on the south side-though Stern said he is prepared to increase the number of permits to 28 if necessary. Only nine vendors have applied so far, he said.

If the demand exceeds 24, the permits will be distributed by lottery. Permit holders must renew each month. Those who lose out one month can apply the next.

Up to 50 vendors have been known to line Fifth Avenue for 10 blocks during the warmer weather, Stern said, and skirmishes for coveted spots have been frequent in the past.

The policy has been in effect since 1995 in other parts of the city, including Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Washington Square Park, Union Square Park and Battery Park in Manhattan.

While there was some initial resistance in those areas, Stern said the vendors eventually embraced the policy because "they realized how good it was. Nobody can come in and push them around and take their spot."

Lederman denied that vendors fought over spots in front of the Met, adding that he receives "countless" calls from artists all over the city complaining that they can't obtain permits in the other parks.

Harold Holzer, vice president of communications for the Metropolitan Museum, said in a statement that the museum believes in the "right of artistic expression" but that it "has no jurisdiction over the plaza that fronts its Fifth Avenue facade-and no voice in deciding who may or may not use the area for vending."