Benepe and other proponents of the proposal maintain that it’s a reasonable response to the congestion created by street artists. The Central Park Conservancy, New Yorkers for Parks, a number of Business Improvement Districts and area residents all threw their weight behind the proposal.
While a federal judge has blocked an injunction against the new park rules, history and legal precedent are not on the side of the Parks Department. In 1996 a Federal Appeals Court
granted full First Amendment protection to street artists in New York City, following attempts by the Giuliani Administration to have them arrested on the spot.
When the Parks Department tried to impose a parks permit for artists in 1998, the same Federal Appeals Court found that the Parks Department had violated the U.S. Constitution.
Finally, in 2003, the City Council rejected a bill introduced by the Bloomberg Administration that attempted to circumvent the Federal Court’s previous two rulings.
