Oh Man..vending rules going into effect soon-ish..

This is a partial email I got from the A.R.T.I.S.T. group I belong too..If you join the yahoo group you can read more about the new vending laws that will be going into effect soon it seems. I can't say i've gone to all the rallies lately or have been vending too much either. I've been too busy with other things and have been bringing in money other ways..But this depresses me and will change the landscape of the city even more. Street vendors are a fun, creative part of this city..not those awful cupcake trucks that will replace them and other generic sales goods..Man, I miss buying shit off the streets from crackheads who had their wares on blankets..now even artists with tables selling their jewelery and music are gonna go away..It's just depressing..if you care come to the protests and rallies and meetings.
Here is some of the email I got:

"Rumors re: Park Rules Going Into Effect

PEP officers (Parks Enforcement Patrol) approached artists in at least
two different parks and told them, "You'll be out of here very soon.
The rules will pass in one month."

A man went through Union Sq Park taking photos of the art stands on
Wednesday. He told artists, "I was contracted by the Parks Dept to
take before and after photos. The rules will go into effect on June
21st."

A Daily News reporter told me a parks official told him the rules are
being "tweaked" and will be passed in a modified form.
A NY Times reporter just told me, "The rules are supposed to go into
effect on Friday, May 23. They are slightly rewriting them."

What are we to make of this?

Rather than going into a panic, we need to take this one step at a time.

From day one we had to assume the Parks Department intended to put
these rules into effect.
These new indications and rumors could be true, false or somewhere in
between. I cannot force the Parks officials to admit the truth, but I
would guess that something is surely up.

What should our response be?
Those artists who have been doing business as usual, telling
themselves and each other that this, "will never happen," need to
awaken from their slumber.
As for the artists who have been displaying signs, writing letters and
reaching out to the public, this is the time to get SERIOUS. No one,
myself included, has done EVERYTHING they could. Most have actually
done as little as they could.
Now that it appears that some version of the rules may go into effect,
the seriousness of this should be clear to all involved.

How hard would you work to save your vending spot from another vendor?
That's at least how serious you need to be about saving it from the city.
If the rules pass, a lawsuit is inevitable and will likely take years,
but what can YOU do NOW?

The one thing that can stop these rules from going into effect NOW is
strong public opinion expressing outrage to the Mayor, the media and
the Parks Department officials.
No one is in a better position to get public opinion activated in this
way than you, the artists who so visibly are selling in the parks
every day.".....

Lederman is right and I am going to make sure to bcome more involved in this fight whether I am vending or not. There are so many people and families that depend on that income to feed themselves and survive.