May 22, 1998The cabbies were joined near City Hall by a few of Mr. Giuliani's most stalwart enemies: a small flock of artists who have likened Mr. Giuliani to a dictator ever since he required artists to get permits in order to sell artwork in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Knut Masco, 35, brought along a small two-sided placard with a checker-cab design, which read, ''Honk if you can't stand Giuliani.''
''This is our taxi motif,'' he said.
Pedestrians stopped to listen as drivers, gathered at the designated protest site, shouted ''Shame, Giuliani'' and ''We want justice.''
New York Post- March 1999
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists,Response,to Illegal State Tactics)
Diallo Protest / 1# Police Plaza
The Washington Post- June 1998
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists,Response,to Illegal State Tactics)
protesting Mayor Giuliani's proposed street restrictions.
The Los Angeles Times- June 1998
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
protesting against Mayor Giuliani's
proposed street restrictions.
eldiario-Spanish speaking Newspaper
June 1998- Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T
& fellow Vendors protesting Giuliani's
proposed street restrictions
Newsday March 2, 1998
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists,Response,to Illegal State Tactics)
Protest Parks new permit for artists
New Yorker Staats Zeitung-March 1998
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists,Response,to Illegal State Tactics)
Protest new Parks Permit for artists
Chinese Newspaper -1998
Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists,Response,to Illegal State Tactics)
protesting Giuliani' s proposed
street restrictions on vendors
The Villager-May 1998 - Knut Masco of A.R.T.I.S.T
Protesting Mayor Giuliani's Photo
Show at the Leica Gallery in SoHo
Not everyone considers the show productive. A group of street artists, angered by Mr. Giuliani's moves to limit the sale of their works on public streets and in parks, has called the show an affront to the art world and has vowed to picket it.
''This man should be ashamed to have his name appear in the same sentence as the word 'art,' '' said Robert Lederman, the president of the group, Artists Response to Illegal State Tactics. ''Jesse Helms has been a friend of artists compared to Giuliani.''
During the Mayor's first term, the Giuliani administration began requiring vendors selling things like T-shirts or leather bags, as well as street artists, to obtain permits to sell their wares as part of a crackdown on all street vendors.
But Mr. Lederman and other artists sued, calling the permits an infringement on their constitutional rights.
In October 1996, the United States Court of Appeals sided with the street artists, saying that the artists are protected by the First Amendment. The court's ruling was upheld last June, when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the city's appeal.
In a second court battle with Mr. Lederman and other street artists, Mayor Giuliani, for now, is prevailing. Last month, a Federal judge ruled that the administration's effort to regulate the sale of art works in city parks through a system that gives out permits by lottery was legal. Mr. Lederman and other artists say they will appeal.
Ms. Lategano defended the Mayor's record, saying he had increased financing for arts education in public schools and heavily supported the city's arts institutions. She also said Mr. Lederman's protest was in poor taste.
Mr. Lederman countered that it was the Mayor who was showing poor taste. Mr. Lederman, who said he had been arrested 31 times for protesting the new parks policy outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, predicted that his protest tomorrow would be met by police officers.
''I hope to see the photographs myself,'' he said. ''But I expect to be arrested within 15 minutes.''
NY Times
May 7 1998
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