1 Hon.

Bill de Blasio, Mayor City of New York City Hall New York, NY 10007 Dear Mayor de Blasio, I write to you on behalf of the ,000 !e!bers of ".#.$.I.%.$. a NYC based street artists& ad'o(a(y )rou*, (on(ernin) the +arks De*art!ent rules for e,*ressi'e !atter 'endors. I belie'e that if you e,a!ine this issue you will see that the artists I re*resent ha'e a le)iti!ate and si)nifi(ant )rie'an(e, whi(h you alone are in a *osition to resol'e. In 010 the Bloo!ber) ad!inistration radi(ally altered the lon) standin) rules re)ardin) artists who (reate, dis*lay or sell their works in NYC +arks. $he *re- 010 rules for artists were based on the lon)-standin) NYC 'endin) laws .the /012 and on 3ederal Court rulin)s fro! lawsuits brou)ht by the !e!bers of ".#.$.I.%.$. $he new rules had the effe(t of 'irtually bannin) the 3irst "!end!ent *rote(ted sale of art fro! all *ubli( *arks. "s a result, !ost of the artists who *re'iously worked in *arks for !any years ha'e lost their li'elihoods and their ri)hts. $he City (lai!ed that artists were (o!!er(iali4in) the *arks5 (ausin) (on)estion5 obstru(tin) the 'iew of !onu!ents and denyin) the *ubli( full en6oy!ent of the *arks. "s soon as the artists were re!o'ed, the lo(ations *re'iously used by artists were then bid out to (or*orations for the *ur*ose of *ro!otin) their *rodu(ts and ser'i(es. $here are now (lose to 1,000 (or*orate (on(essions in NYC +arks. %o!e of these (or*orate (on(essions, like the Holiday 0endin) Markets in 7nion %8uare +ark and in Central +ark at Colu!bus Cir(le, ha'e as !any as 00 non-3irst "!end!ent *rote(ted (o!!er(ial 'endors takin) u* hundreds of ti!es !ore s*a(e than artists *re'iously did. $hese (on(essions (o!*letely obstru(t !onu!ents and deny the lo(al residents any use of their *arks. In 9une 010 we sued in the %outhern Distri(t 3ederal Court. 9ud)e %ulli'an, a Bush a**ointee with dire(t ties to for!er Mayor /iuliani, i)nored e'ery *ie(e of e'iden(e we sub!itted, denied us an in6un(tion and then dis!issed our (ase alto)ether. :e a**ealed to the nd (ir(uit, whi(h affir!ed 9ud)e %ulli'an, (o!*letely i)norin) nu!erous funda!ental errors in his rulin), in(ludin) that he had )ranted the City su!!ary 6ud)!ent des*ite there bein) (ountless fa(tual dis*utes in the (ase. 9ud)es are not allowed to su!!arily dis!iss lawsuits that ha'e e'en one, let alone nu!erous, unresol'ed fa(tual dis*utes. :e then a**ealed to the 7% %u*re!e Court, whi(h unfortunately 6ust denied us (ert. $hrou)hout the (ourse of the *ark rules lawsuit the lawyers re*resentin) the City, the +arks Co!!issioner and a nu!ber of his to* staff en)a)ed in a (on(erted effort to !isinfor! all the 6ud)es in'ol'ed in our (ase about the basi( fa(ts of the *ark rules and about their reasons for (reatin) the!. 0irtually e'ery see!in)ly fa(tual state!ent sub!itted in the (ase by the City was a !atter of *er6ury. ;'en the City&s (lai!s about what the new rules are was falsified and then ba(ked u* with *er6ured affida'its fro! the to* +arks De*art!ent offi(ials. :e a((e*t that in a lawsuit there are winners and losers. Howe'er, in this (ase a )reat in6usti(e was

done, not to !ention that nu!erous City offi(ials (o!!itted felonies by re*eatedly *er6urin) the!sel'es in affida'its, de*ositions and in sworn testi!ony. :e look to you as the newly ele(ted Mayor and (hief e,e(uti'e who is ulti!ately in (har)e of all NYC +arks for 6usti(e. "rtists are a tre!endous asset to our *ubli( *arks. $hey *ro'ide entertain!ent, edu(ation and ins*iration to both NYC residents and tourists. $hey !ake *arks safer by their wat(hful eyes. In the (ourse of the lawsuit, the City was unable to (ite a sin)le in(ident where anyone was in6ured, assaulted or e'en in(on'enien(ed by an artist in a *ark. 3or !any de(ades NYC had led the 7.%. in ter!s of free s*ee(h ri)hts and artists& ri)hts. "rtists in !any other 7% (ities ha'e taken the rulin)s in the ".#.$.I.%.$. lawsuits as a !odel and won the!sel'es the ri)ht to sell their art in *ubli( s*a(es - ri)hts that we NYC artists are now bein) denied thanks to the Bloo!ber) ad!inistration. $hese e,tre!e and needless restri(tions on artists in *arks are an insult to the freedo!s "!eri(a, New York City and you stand for. "s you will re(all fro! the e,tensi'e !edia (o'era)e about this issue durin) your ti!e as a City Coun(il!e!ber, we s*ent !any years fi)htin) to win these ri)hts. In 1<<7 the nd (ir(uit ruled that street artists were fully *rote(ted by the 3irst "!end!ent and that we (ould sell our art without needin) a 'endin) li(ense or *ark *er!it. Between 1<<= and 01>, both Mayor /iuliani and Mayor Bloo!ber) s*ent their entire ter!s in offi(e atte!*tin) to destroy our ri)hts and eli!inate us fro! the *arks, solely in order that (or*orations (ould ha'e an e,(lusi'e ri)ht to use these *ubli( s*a(es. $his (or*orati4ation and *ri'ati4ation of our *ubli( s*a(es is so!ethin) you stron)ly s*oke out a)ainst as a (oun(il!e!ber and as +ubli( "d'o(ate. $oday, you are in a *osition to do !ore than 6ust 'oi(e an ob6e(tion. :e ask that you issue a dire(ti'e (an(elin) the 010 re'ision and returnin) the *ark rules to the e,a(t state they were in *re'ious to 010. :e are not askin) you to re!o'e all rules or restri(tions on artists or to !ake any (han)es to the lon)-standin) )eneral 'endin) laws, whi(h artists and all non-(on(ession 'endors are re8uired to follow both in *arks and on the streets. In 10 sworn de*ositions by the to* +arks ;nfor(e!ent offi(ials, ea(h testified that there were suffi(ient rules in *la(e to do any needed enfor(e!ent a)ainst artists *re'ious to the 010 re'ision. In other words, e'ery de*osed *ark offi(ial a)reed that new rules were not needed to (ontrol (on)estion or to *rote(t the use of the *arks. Your (olle)ue, City Coun(il %*eaker Mellisa Mark-0i'erito, testified a)ainst the *assa)e of these rules at a 010 *ubli( hearin), as did nu!erous other *ubli( offi(ials and as did !ore than ?00 artists. %he has been followin) this issue (losely sin(e 010. Mr. Mayor, I *ubli(ly endorsed you for Mayor durin) the ele(tion. Many "#$I%$ !e!bers hel*ed your (a!*ai)n, (ontributed !oney and 'oted for you. :e ho*e you will ri)ht the serious wron) that was done to free s*ee(h, to artists and to *ubli( s*a(e by these rules. In(luded are a few links to !aterial on the lawsuit. I (an *ro'ide you or your staff with any of the le)al briefs, do(u!ents, e'iden(e, 'ideos or re(ordin)s that were *art of the (ase.

> I ho*e to )et the o**ortunity to s*eak with you in *erson about this issue at your earliest (on'enien(e. %in(erely Yours, #obert 1eder!an, +resident of "#$I%$ artist*res@)!ail.(o! 01 A<B-1BAB C.C. %*eaker Mark 0i'erito %u*re!e Court le)al briefs in 1eder!an et al ' +arks De*t Here are the > le)al briefs sub!itted by both *arties to the 7% %u*re!e Court in 1eder!an et al ' +arks De*art!ent. +lease read the! in this orderC 1. 1eder!an *etition to 7% %u*re!e CourtC htt*CDDwww.s(ribd.(o!Ddo(D1<>>A7<><D1eder!an-'-NYC-De*t-of-+arks-+etition-for-:rit . CityEs o**osition to 1eder!an *etitionC htt*CDDwww.s(ribd.(o!Ddo(D 0A=?==1ADCity-#;+1Y-to-+etition >. 1eder!an *laintiffEs re*ly to CityEs o**osition htt*CDDwww.s(ribd.(o!Ddo(D 0A=?== 1D#e*ly-to-City-s-o**osition ------------------------------------------------------------------------0ideo fro! 010 *ubli( hearin) on the *ark rulesC htt*CDDwww.youtube.(o!Dwat(hF'GYHH407+)fIw $hree Newsweek arti(les on the a**ealC NYCEs :ar Jn "rtists 1 D<D1> htt*CDDwww.newsweek.(o!Dnew-york-(itys-war-artists=07? ?1<0 77B>

New YorkEs "rtists $ake $heir Case to the %u*re!e Court 1 D 7D1= htt*CDDwww.newsweek.(o!Dnew-yorks-artists-take-their-(ase-su*re!e-(ourt-

New York City $ries to Blo(k %treet "rtistsE +etition to %u*re!e Court D>D1= htt*CDDwww.newsweek.(o!Dnew-york-(ity-tries-blo(k-street-artists-*etition-su*re!e-(ourt-