7/31/2019 Huffington Post article on RL
2/2
Bravo!
I first heard of Lederman from another Veteran of the Wars,
David Everitt-Carlson, aUnion Square Occupier who has become the
latest target of police "attention." Inresearching ways in which to
defend himself, he came across Lederman's name and track
record and immediately sought him out as a mentor and
supporter.
As Lederman sees it, "David's situation is a microcosm of the
macrocosm that the entire public -- and not just artists -- are
experiencing in the parks. That is, a crackdown on freespeech, on
the right of assembly and on civil liberties generally by
implementing severenew restrictions."
I asked Lederman why the parks are being sanitized, and his
answer:
"The entire purpose of this is to make the public parks
inaccessible and unuseable for constitutionally protected
activities. At the same time, all public parks are being turned
over to private corporate interests for advertising and
promotional purposes."A corporate-installed or sponsored piece of
art will generate considerable monies for cityand park coffers. Not
so for the vagrant artist. (Chillingly, this is an extension of the
"freespeech" rights -- and unlimited money -- of corporations over
the voices of the individual.Shades of Citizens United!)
Want more details? Robert Lederman can be reached on Twitter as
@artistpres, onYouTube as NYC Street Artist Videos, and at the
A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To IllegalState Tactics).
