| Releases & Statements
Contact: Frank Sobrino
O: (212) 669-4193
Statement
of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
on NYPD’s Parade Rule Changes
By scaling back its attempt to impose
sweeping new restrictions on the right of New Yorkers to use city
streets, the Police Department has taken a step in the right direction.
There remains cause for concern, however, in its current proposal,
which would require police permits for every roadway procession
with 20 or more vehicles or bicycles and every procession of 10
or more people using a roadway “in a manner that does not
comply with all applicable traffic laws, rules and regulations.”
That there is no need for such a harsh
rule is apparent in the wording of the proposal. Groups that do
not comply with traffic laws are already subject to fines or arrest
by the police. So why impose an additional unnecessary restriction
that could be applied not only to demonstrations but also class
field trips, funeral processions, and walking tours? The answer
appears to be that the administration is once again trying to
intimidate those who would exercise their constitutional right
to protest.
This is not the first time the administration
has overreached in an attempt to limit public demonstrations.
Last year, I called the city’s plans to severely restrict
the number, size, and timing of gatherings in Central Park, as
well as parades and demonstrations along 5th Avenue, a violation
of civil rights and a rejection of the values that make New York
City great. I am disappointed that, rather than being chastened
by the public outcry over those measures, the administration feels
emboldened to further stifle group expression.
If the NYPD finds that groups like
Critical Mass are breaking existing laws, it should enforce those
laws in the interest of public safety. But concocting a new rule
specifically to reign in such groups—and implementing it
by “the authority vested in the Police Commissioner”
rather than local law—is an unconscionable, and possibly
unconstitutional, infringement of First Amendment rights. The
administration must withdraw this attempt to control the way New
Yorkers congregate and use their streets and focus instead on
ensuring that they are able to exercise their rights safely.
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