The Fifth Avenue Association was the first business protection group in NYC to go after vendors. Back in the early part of the 20th century, they were formed to keep Jewish businessmen and street peddlers from selling on Fifth Avenue. During the ensuing hundred years, business groups, like the one attempting to form itself here, use false premises about protecting rent paying stores to promote racist and anti constitutional efforts to destroy vending.
As the representative of the city's First Amendment protected street artists I have spent the past 13 years fighting and exposing such efforts. So far we've won four Federal lawsuits and changed three laws about vending. Be assured, we are already working on exposing this one before it gets out of the gate.
Those businesses and councilmembers that align themselves with it will be tainted for many years to come.
This plan has far more to it than the article suggests.
1. Tricking vendors into supporting their own elimination including
using a fake vendor advocacy group representing immigrant vendors.
2. Pretending to pass a law aimed at helping immigrant vendors
and street artists, a law actually
intended to get rid of immigrant vendors and street artists.
3. Tricking councilmembers into believing they are helping the
very vendors they are eliminating.
4. Using public relations to deceive the public into thinking a
vendor elimination bill was a "help the poor vendors" bill.
Imagine elected officials taking bows for helping immigrant vendors
when in reality they are working to eliminate them. It's as if
Karl Rove (Bush's brain) was working on the vendor policy.
This plan is as sinister as it gets, and YOU are
the target of this plan.
If you are a street artist, disabled veteran vendor, food vendor
or general vendor this leaked memo should be a gigantic wakeup call.
All of the councilmembers on the committee are pawns of real estate interests.
Not one word they speak, write or vote for in terms of "helping"
any vendor can ever be trusted. But watch them try....
You can expect that now that this memo has been leaked
these councilmembers will be doing everything they
can to distance themselves from it, to denounce it,
and to disavow ever having such ideas.
They will try to claim they are every vendors'
BEST FRIEND. They will hope you have a one second memory.
DON'T BELIEVE IT.
No vendor group "working with" these councilmembers can be trusted.
They are either innocent pawns or willing fronts or both.
Front groups are these councilmembers specialty.
This same corrupt Consumer Affairs Committee that
plans to get rid of vendors funds one of
the largest "vendor advocacy groups" in NYC. This group is co-funded
by the BIDs, the US Department of Justice and some of
the city's largest corporate law firms. I've written about it
more than 100 times since 1999. Where did I get this info
on their funding?
From the vendor groups own annual report.
You can expect them to be out in front right besides the
corrupt councilmembers denouncing this same plan...
a plan they are an integral part of.
In 2004 this "vendor advocacy" group publicly supported
a bill this very same committee and Alan Gerson wanted
passed requiring a license for artists, limiting all vendors
to two per block and creating thousands of vending licenses
specifically for immigrants. I denounced it as a front
and a trick aimed at exploiting immigrant vendors at that time.
ARTIST had a leading role in defeating that bill.
PRIVATIZATION
You might reasonably ask:
Why would the anti vendor city council fund a group asking for thousands
of new vending licenses to be issued to immigrants?
They need to boost the total
number of food and general merchandise licenses and permits
before selling off all the vending spots to corporations.
Right now there is a cap on the total number of licenses and permits.
If they sold off all the spots today, they could not sell any more than
the current number. The immigrant vendors are going to be
exploited by these corporate interests, who themselves plan to
get control of all the legal vending spots by outbidding all other vendors.
What should we do? Start by getting your own understanding
of the vending issue clear.
If you don't even know what game you are playing,
you are not playing to win.
If your focus is totally on other vendors who you imagine
are the cause of all your woes, you are missing the point.
Robert Lederman artistpres@gmail.com
The Fifth Avenue Association was the first business protection group in NYC to go after vendors. Back in the early part of the 20th century, they were formed to keep Jewish businessmen and street peddlers from selling on Fifth Avenue. During the ensuing hundred years, business groups, like the one attempting to form itself here, use false premises about protecting rent paying stores to promote racist and anti constitutional efforts to destroy vending.
As the representative of the city's First Amendment protected street artists I have spent the past 13 years fighting and exposing such efforts. So far we've won four Federal lawsuits and changed three laws about vending. Be assured, we are already working on exposing this one before it gets out of the gate.
Those businesses and councilmembers that align themselves with it will be tainted for many years to come.
This plan has far more to it than the article suggests.
1. Tricking vendors into supporting their own elimination including
using a fake vendor advocacy group representing immigrant vendors.
2. Pretending to pass a law aimed at helping immigrant vendors
and street artists, a law actually
intended to get rid of immigrant vendors and street artists.
3. Tricking councilmembers into believing they are helping the
very vendors they are eliminating.
4. Using public relations to deceive the public into thinking a
vendor elimination bill was a "help the poor vendors" bill.
Imagine elected officials taking bows for helping immigrant vendors
when in reality they are working to eliminate them. It's as if
Karl Rove (Bush's brain) was working on the vendor policy.
This plan is as sinister as it gets, and YOU are
the target of this plan.
If you are a street artist, disabled veteran vendor, food vendor
or general vendor this leaked memo should be a gigantic wakeup call.
All of the councilmembers on the committee are pawns of real estate interests.
Not one word they speak, write or vote for in terms of "helping"
any vendor can ever be trusted. But watch them try....
You can expect that now that this memo has been leaked
these councilmembers will be doing everything they
can to distance themselves from it, to denounce it,
and to disavow ever having such ideas.
They will try to claim they are every vendors'
BEST FRIEND. They will hope you have a one second memory.
DON'T BELIEVE IT.
No vendor group "working with" these councilmembers can be trusted.
They are either innocent pawns or willing fronts or both.
Front groups are these councilmembers specialty.
This same corrupt Consumer Affairs Committee that
plans to get rid of vendors funds one of
the largest "vendor advocacy groups" in NYC. This group is co-funded
by the BIDs, the US Department of Justice and some of
the city's largest corporate law firms. I've written about it
more than 100 times since 1999. Where did I get this info
on their funding?
From the vendor groups own annual report.
You can expect them to be out in front right besides the
corrupt councilmembers denouncing this same plan...
a plan they are an integral part of.
In 2004 this "vendor advocacy" group publicly supported
a bill this very same committee and Alan Gerson wanted
passed requiring a license for artists, limiting all vendors
to two per block and creating thousands of vending licenses
specifically for immigrants. I denounced it as a front
and a trick aimed at exploiting immigrant vendors at that time.
ARTIST had a leading role in defeating that bill.
PRIVATIZATION
You might reasonably ask:
Why would the anti vendor city council fund a group asking for thousands
of new vending licenses to be issued to immigrants?
They need to boost the total
number of food and general merchandise licenses and permits
before selling off all the vending spots to corporations.
Right now there is a cap on the total number of licenses and permits.
If they sold off all the spots today, they could not sell any more than
the current number. The immigrant vendors are going to be
exploited by these corporate interests, who themselves plan to
get control of all the legal vending spots by outbidding all other vendors.
What should we do? Start by getting your own understanding
of the vending issue clear.
If you don't even know what game you are playing,
you are not playing to win.
If your focus is totally on other vendors who you imagine
are the cause of all your woes, you are missing the point.
Robert Lederman
artistpres@gmail.com