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While performance artist Thoth, beloved by many, awaits his court date in August after getting arrested for "prayforming," the Parks Department has gotten back to us with their somewhat canned comment on the incident. Parks spokesperson Philip Abramson explains:"There are many spaces in Central Park where unamplified music may be played without a permit. However, the Bethesda Terrace area has been designated a 'quiet zone' for many years. The Parks Department routinely asks musicians and performers to move from Bethesda to other areas of the park such as the Bandshell and Dead Road.
On Sunday afternoon, many performers were playing at Bethesda at the same time creating a great deal of noise as well as crowd congestion. Parks asked all of them to relocate, which they all did, except for two individuals who refused to move. Those individuals were arrested by Parks Enforcement Patrol and taken to the Central Park Precinct where they were issued summonses and released."
Parks Department Speaks Out on Thoth Arrest
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It's the same media that NEVER mentioned Muslims' hatred of Israel as a possible motive for 9/11.
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If you really are obnoxious enough to put your beliefs on public display at least go with the law when you do it.
there's a lot of censorship going on, just on gothamist.
let's see if they'll block this post again
http://www.assembleforrightsnyc.org/
Seriously, Strawberry Fields is a Quiet Zone? Tell that to the 30 or so people who show up every night to jam for however long their high lasts.
The explanation here (if true) does make some sense. As much as everyone might like these guys, we can't tell one performer that they have to move but that another can stay because the Parks Department or the public likes him.
Okay, this is all starting to make sense now...
"Parks asked all of them to relocate, which they all did, except for two individuals who refused to move. Those individuals were arrested by Parks Enforcement Patrol and taken to the Central Park Precinct where they were issued summonses and released."
Seems pretty reasonable if you put it that way.
This explains why I haven't seen him on the Q46 recently.
bethesda as a "quiet zone" and "for many years" may be the funniest thing i've read today. where've they been for the dancers with their boom boxes? and thoth's probably been there for close to 10 years. why go after him now?
"Quiet zones"?? In Central Park? What are they smoking? The only time those areas of the park are quiet is when the weather is bad.
I find praying in public distasteful but that's me. Whether or not this was justified depends on how loud and obnoxious they were being, I guess. However the witnesses seem to be saying that nobody minded. *I* would have minded but I hate subway performers and generally anyone who makes the city even noisier than it already is. And I wouldn't have complained in any event.
quiet zones - free speech zones - permits to assemble - these things LIMIT freedom in a big way.
It's Thoth Control!
lol
the park in not and has never been a museum.
That's a shame. The guy is pretty talented and brings an interesting vibe to the place. Why not arrest all of the lame-ass roller skaters instead?
what the hell happened to freedom of assembly? Is that not a right now? Apparently not. Whenever people in this city gather together in unison it is shut down. Why? Is it because our government can't control us? They are afraid of the very people they pretend to protect?
I would just like to know why people express such hatred towards people who exercise the freedoms they profess to protect. How do you reconcile giving yourself to a cause you don't truly and deeply believe in? It's an dilemma I think we, of walks of life and thoughts, find ourselves in.
People are free to assemble-just not in the designated quiet zone. Think of it as the no smoking area in restaurants-that is before smoking was outlawed entirely. Fuck the Parks Department and these stupid fucking rules. Are they posted anywhere?
shut your face, this is NOTHING like no smoking zones in restaurants.
like "freedom of speech" zones
there will soon be no photography zones, so you won't see so many stories like this.
our founding fathers are collectively rolling over in their graves as we speak.
and so long as people are relatively comfortable, our rights will continue to erode
stay entertained, america.
sorry i misread what you said, whitecastle
We live in a city infused by noise: traffic, horns honking, car alarms, jackhammers, etc. etc. I wish the entire Central Park was a quiet zone. Why can't we just be satisfied to listen to kids laughing and birds singing while in the park?
This all makes sense, except for the fact that Toth has been performing at the exact same space in Bethesda for many, many, many years. So why did the Park Dept. decide to enforce the quiet zone today and not any other time he has performed there?
This is disgusting.
Thoth and Pink Angel are friends of mine. He's been performing in that tunnel for--if my memory is correct--the past fourteen years or so. To my knowledge, he's never been arrested for his art before.
It's possible that the performers Thoth calls the 'Afrobats,' a group of obnoxious acrobats who have blasted a boombox at Bethesda since last summer, were responsible for the zero-tolerance police crackdown.
But Thoth has become an icon in that part of the park. If the police are going to arrest him for singing and playing violin, they might as well arrest Gary, the Mayor of Strawberry Fields for arranging flowers where people walk. Or they might as well arrest the Naked Cowboy. These people give New York its personality, its charm, and its soul.
The police statement would make sense if they had actually been enforcing this rule for the past decade. Or if they had been cracking down on performers using loud amps and boomboxes instead of the soulful performers.
And please--Strawberry Fields is a quiet zone? There's a band there almost every time I go. And there are always singing stoners and hippies. What would that part of the park be if not for people singing Beatles songs?
I'm just sick of this city and its police.
-Casey Cosker
Go to http://www.strawberryfieldsnyc.com to find a petition that asks for a compromise in lieu of the recent crackdown on musicians in the park.