King Sonny Zorro

On Saturday, September 10 
 from noon to midnite               
at Sponto’s Gallery 7 Dudley Avenue, Venice. 

Freedom is ???? by Mary Jane

Freedom is often just a word…used by many but not offered fairly nor honored equally nor often.

Many of the Venice Boardwalk street vendors and entertainers are shouting their own claims to be “Free!!!” ….meaning :  free to sell commercial wares bought cheaper wholesale in a free-from-cost space…. free to boss other musicians to conform to their own needs…free to tell other vendors or visitors what to do e.g. “ don’t play this instrument or here…don’t step here…don’t talk to them ….buy this….give me a donation… don’t believe Them!… etc.” They are Demanding freedom but not giving it back to others. There was a better time when Sgt. Fogarty eliminated the commercial sellers so the community artists could have visibility and Venice ART exposure instead.  Some space-takers take advantage of their lotteried spot - claiming ownership over public land that they are ‘renting’ for free, telling the visiting public where they can stand or telling them to move from the sidewalk in front of their spot if not buying or paying enough.  Some entertainers are claiming the sidewalk as well as “their” spot and telling people to “move on” even, as if their free space gave them some ownership over the public passing by as well. Bossy space users are notorious for claiming their own freedom, but not giving back what they demand for themselves.  They want more space than is allotted to one, more money than they share with the other musicians in their ‘group’, more rights to occupy a preferred space, more, more, more,  of whatever is available anywhere !

“Free” might better be used on the boardwalk to people who express wanted-or-not political information…credible-or-not viewpoints…controversial-or-not spiritual communications, and all for FREE, instead of mainly for money.  Venice used to be a lot more FREE than it has become now. Especially when land-apt.-store developers are wanting to own the oceanfront land by gradually removing the wide variety of folk who have inhabited these Venice spaces for artistic and creative purposes, instead of cheap commercial souvenirs. They can easily use the excuse of commercialism to vacate the spaces they then want for their own private and personal ocean view.   A flea market is not what Venice became famous for even a few years  ago. It was inhabited by artists that made their own products, singers and dancers and musicians who played their own songs and also their old favorites. There was not a battery-operated loud turntable or even amplified louder and louder sounds competing with each other. This has become a brash, brawl boundless money-grubbing place now, with weekend families and a few tourists looking for a seaside walk and something more to Buy.  Free is not Buyable actually.

Venice is not very free after all any more. My regrets and lament here. The crush of people buying cheap goods and loud sounds has made the Real Venice of fame and not-fortune retreat. Cash is not a sign of freedom no matter how much any one accumulates. Free is much more a value, a moral, an ephemeral quality of life and mind. Free is much more elusive than the profiteering and ownership claims of the people who claim to love Freedom in Venice. Free is how we need to be. Not $$$ rich.  © maryjoy 2005

 From the Soul of Brother Rock

The Royal Priesthood of

Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ)

Is Absolute Mercy.

EHAD 

From NYC:  Times Sq Crackdown 
By Robert Lederman  of A.R.T.I.S.T. 

A fight over a vending spot between two licensed vendors on Broadway ended in a stabbing. This is the exact kind of incident that plays into the hands of those who want to ban vendors from the streets. The police response was to force a great many vendors to close their stands along Prince Street and along Broadway. This was done under an interpretation of the vending rule about a stand having to be set up on a sidewalk that is at least 12 feet wide. A recent letter sent to me about this by the Department of Consumer Affairs legal Department states that there must be a 12 foot wide clearance from the inside edge of a vending stand to the wall of whatever building the vendor is set up in front of.  DCA¹s legal determination in the form of a letter written previously to mine was sent to the police and to the ECB court by DCA.  A.R.T.I.S.T. believes this is an incorrect interpretation of the law, which states that a sidewalk must be 12 feet wide not that there must be a 12 foot wide space from the inside edge of a vending stand. Under this DCA interpretation, thousands of legal vending spots throughout the City can be considered illegal. According to sources, the police warned artists and vendors on West Broadway that they will be clearing that street today, Sunday August 28th, although rain may cancel their plans.

I¹d suggest that you record any and every interaction with the police in order to document the exact circumstances under which they ask you to close up or issue you a summons. To do this properly you need to record/videotape the entire conversation, photograph them measuring the distance (or not bothering to measure it) etc. If they refuse to give you a summons, you should consider asking them to do so. This is the only way this can be challenged in court. NOTE: If a police officer asks you to close up your stand, and you refuse, they may issue you a summons for disorderly conductor for exigent circumstances. That¹s why you need to fully document exactly what is said and exactly the conditions that occurred.

As far as fighting over vending spots let me say this: I¹ve sold on the street for more than 40 years. I fully understand why vendors get attached to a particular spot and all the arguments about why they have a ³right² to do so. While these justifications make sense emotionally, they have no basis in law or in common sense. The sidewalks and Parks of NYC are public space. That means no matter how many times you set up in a spot, it is not owned by you nor do you have more right than other vendors to set up there. It¹s exactly like a parking spot. Fighting over a space, let alone stabbing someone over it, can only lead to negative consequences both individually and collectively.

This incident is especially unfortunate as it comes right before the City Council gets ready to decide on Intro # 621. We can expect that it will be used to justify limiting all vendors to three per block in reserved spots, which in turn will lead to those spots being sold to the highest bidder.  Please think about the long term consequences of what you do on the street. Every action has a reaction. Everything we do affects everyone else.  © Robert Lederman

Twelve Steps to the Lottery Recovery Program By Toneey Acevedo 

1-  WE ADMITTED THAT WE WERE POWERLESS OVER THE CITY, THAT OUR CHOICES BECAME UNMANAGEABLE.

2-  CAME TO BELIEVE THAT THE PARKS AND REC. DEPARTMENT THROUGH A LOTTERY SYSTEM COULD RESTORE OUR SANITY. 

3-  MADE A DECISION TO TURN OUR WILL AND OUR CHOICES TO THE PARKS AND REC. DEPARTMENT LOTTERY SYSTEM. 

4-  COULD NOT MAKE A MORAL AND FEARLESS INVENTORY OF OURSELVES WITHOUT THE LOTTERY SYSTEM. 

5- COULD NOT ADMIT TO GOD, TO OURSELVES OR TO OTHER HUMAN BEINGS HOW FEARFUL WE ARE WITHOUT THE LOTTERY. 

6-  EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO LOTTERY COULD NOT GET THE COURAGE TO DROP OUT OF THE LOTTERY SYSTEM. 

7-  COULDN’ T GET OURSELVES TO ASK THE PARK AND REC. DEPARTMENT TO REMOVE THE LOTTERY SYSTEM BECAUSE WE WERE HAPPY WITH OUR OPPRESSION.

8-  COULDN’T MAKE A LIST OF HOW THE LOTTERY SYSTEM FUCKS UP OUR DAILY LIFE ESPECIALLY WAITING FOR HOURS EVERY TUESDAY MORNING. 

9- MADE NO AMENDS TO THE PROTESTORS AND HOPED THAT THEY WOULD MAKE THE LOTTERY GO AWAY CAUSE WE WERE TO WEAK AND AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND ON OUR OWN. 

10-  CONTINUED TO DRAW A LOTTERY TICKET EVEN THOUGH WE KNEW THE LOTTERY DIDN’T EXIST. DUE TO ARTICLE 42.15 WAS SUSPENDED. 

11-  NEVER THOUGHT OF ENDING THE LOTTERY EVEN THOUGH IT DIDN’T EXIST, AND PRAYED LIKE HELL THAT OUR NUMBER WOULD BE DRAWN EVEN THOUGH THE BOARDWALK IS ALMOST 50% EMPTY. 

12-  COULD NOT GET THE COURAGE TO BE ABLE TO FACE OURSELVES THAT THE LOTTERY SYSTEM DOESN’T EXIST, AND COULD NOT GET OURSELVES TO WITHDRAW FROM THE LOTTERY AND TELL THE PARKS & REC. DEPT. AND THE CITY TO GO GET SCREWED, BECAUSE WE BECAME HAPPY WITH OUR OPPRESSION.  © Toneey Acevedo