Thursday morning, Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit” sculpture made its debut in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, floating down Broadway with the likes of Shrek and Hello Kitty. The metallic silver balloon is based off one of Koons’ most well known works, a 1986 stainless steel mylar rabbit which marked the beginning of his inflatables series. It’s nice but we would have loved to see “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” lofted up in the air.
A Bunny Balloon Sheds Its Steel Skin [NYT]
Photo from Librado Romero/The New York Times
After backing down in August, the NYPD is making another attempt to keep you and yours out of the streets. As the New York Times hardly reported, the NYPD introduced the proposed changes to parade permit regulations yesterday.
10 or more bicyclists or pedestrians, who travel more than two city blocks without fully complying with traffic laws, including jaywalking, are required to have a parade permit.
30 or more bicyclists or pedestrians who obey traffic laws are required to have a parade permit.
Class field trip? Get a permit. Camping out for new kicks? Get a permit. Funeral procession? Get a permit. Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn has already voiced her support for the NYPD’s regulations as a “substantial improvement over regulations proposed earlier.” We do not consider giving the NYPD practically unrestricted power to arrest any ten or more people, rather than only two or more, a “substantial improvement.” Let’s put the pressure on to stop this again.
Speak out at the public hearing on November 27 at 1 Police Plaza. Until then, write to:
Assistant Deputy Commissioner Thomas P Doepfner
New York City Police Department
1 Police Plaza, Room 1406
New York, New York 10038
The full text of the NYPD’s proposed parade regulation chages is available.
Photo of 10 bicyclists (okay, only 9 in the photo) who don’t need a parade permit from Untitledname.
Six months ago, in regards to Critical Mass, Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris determined that the parade permit law is “hopelessly overbroad” and “constitutes a burden on free expression that is more than the First Amendment can bear.”
In response, the NYPD wants to redefine parade permit laws. According to the NY Times:
The Police Department wants to require parade permits for bicyclists traveling in groups of 20 or more, and any bicyclists or walkers who take to the streets in groups of two or more and disobey traffic laws for things like parades, races or protests, according to a public notice filed with the city.
The department also wants to require a parade permit for groups of 35 or more protesters who restrict themselves to the sidewalk, officially clarifying a regulation that court rulings described as too vague, according to a police spokesman.
Under this proposal, you and a friend or other person, would need a parade permit before cutting across the street mid-block, or riding bicycles without bells, or hailing a cab from the edge of the street, or volunteering to chaperone a horde of underprivileged children on a field trip to the museum.
A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for August 23, at 6pm in 1 Police Plaza.
