The Art of Business

Street Artists of New York

New York street artists and performers stand in front of City Hall http://www.nyc.gov/ in protest of the efforts of the city to put them out of business. A proposed law ‘Intro 846′ is in the works to change the vending laws that are over 100 years old. If passed, this law would allow a business improvement district in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park section to determine who can sell on the street and where the vendors can set up shop. A majority of the vendors who are protesting have never sold their wares in Brooklyn, but being ever vigilant in their fight with City Hall, they showed up to prevent a model they fear will spread to all the other neighborhoods; the neighborhoods near by the lucrative hotels New York USA where they do sell their wares.

A First Amendment vendor is any vendor who sells written materials such as magazines, books and newspapers has recently come to include artwork. New York city cannot require a vendor license for these goods because this would violate the right to Freedom of Speech and Expression. In a 1996 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan found that street artists should be included in this category. A ruling they found that requiring all street artists vendors to be licensed to be unconstitutional and an infringement on their First Amendment rights. The court saw the work of street artists as a potent form of expression that must be protected. The judges wrote: ‘Displaying art on the streets has a different expressive purpose than gallery of museum shows; it reaches people who might not choose to go into a gallery of museum or who might feel excluded or alienated from these forums.’ The further stated: “The public display and sale of artwork is a form of communication between the artist and the public.”

Although New York City can’t require a license, it will and can still regulate where the vendor can place their merchandise. Hence the protest to stop the infringement upon the First Amendment and on their livelihood.