Tuesday, June 9, 2015

A mini-pitch for East 12th Street


[Photo by Greg Masters]

This past spring, workers started prepping the empty field adjacent to East Side Community School on East 12th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue… all under the watchful eyes heads of Charlie Brown


[GM]


[GM]

Fast-forward to Friday…


[Photo by Lola Sáenz]



The mini-pitch is courtesy of the New York Red Bulls, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and the NYC Parks Department, who collaborated "to provide both critical afterschool programming and a safe place to play for New York City youth."

And the ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place this afternoon at the site.

The space will be known at the Lower East Side Playground Field.


[Photo from the March groundbreaking via Facebook]

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so awesome for the kids.

Barbara L. Hanson said...

Lawsuit waiting to happen. The use of Charlie Brown 's image is a copyright issue. Remember Snoopy Deli on Second Avenue? It became Noopy Deli within a week.

Pinch said...

Nice lookin'

Anonymous said...

I have been watching the workers construct this field, and it is great to see it finished. I hope the neighborhood kids enjoy it.

CHurt said...

Copyright issue? Too late - it's in the Grieve. Nice new park.

Anonymous said...

Barb, the mural is by artist Jerkface. This is a common theme of his, but yes wonder who is laywer is :)

I hope I can use this field or they keep it open at times for public use as they do the adjacent basketball courts. Street soccer is fun. They could do little community fundraising events / tournies here. (Light bulb)

Anonymous said...

Walked by it yesterday, looks great. I wish the name was a little more inspired or location specific.

cmarrtyy said...

This is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. I've lived in the area for over 40 years and i remember the vacant lot as a source of furniture or car parts. It's nice to see it morph into something more useful and a lot more beautiful than a dump.

Anonymous said...

Love that mural!

Anonymous said...

As an IP attorney and 12th st neighbor, I too was curious if the artist got permission from Charlie and spoke with the artist's assistant while the artist was on a crane painting He didn't but because the artist was not paid but did got permission from the building owner, he has an excellent 1st Amendment.defense if Charlie Brown comes knocking.

Anonymous said...

First Amendment issue? How is his mural free speech? It becomes a for profit entity illegally using Charlie Brown (herein CB) the minute that park is used for a private purpose or even just takes a user permit fee.

Also the park is clearly selling Red Bull even though Red Bull is not printed anywhere there (iconic, distinctive, clearly Red Bull colors.)

CB's lawyer could argue CB's likeness is being used by two for profit entities (Red Bull and US Soccer Association) for profit under the guise of a "public park". The lawyer could also argue the artist, the city, and Red Bull are circumventing permission and the subsequent fee which may or may not come with it to use CB under the guise of "freedom of speech".

Ruling against CB would set a dangerous precedent. It would say a copyrighted work could be used without the copyright holder's permission or providing compensation to the artist. How is that promoting freedom of speech? What if I, the artist, don't want my creation on a park wall? Shouldn't I have the right to say no or seek compensation? Where are my rights to guard my art and freedom of speech? Why'd I pay $35 to the US goverment to copyright my work when it could be used without my permission?

Anonymous said...

First, the mural was in place long before this installation.
Second, the image quite clearly has a satirical twist.
However, I do enjoy watching people have uninformed arguments even more then I watch soccer.

Anonymous said...

758am - the mural is not part of the park so your position makes no sense.

Anonymous said...

8:54pm Irrelevant and since the mural was on a building before the park opened then the building owner was using the likeness to market the building - why not? Hey, cool mural, move here. Not a big selling point of course, but it's on commercial property and I'd imagine only enhances the attractiveness of the building even if a little bit. I must say it's cool but it is on a property.

How can you definitively prove the likeness has a "satirical twist"? Where is the "satire" in the likeness? Does the artist note the mural is satire? No, so it's not anything but using a likeness without permission.

Uninformed? No, I'm just not a nerd who knows everything about this mural including when it was painted like you. Bottom line is the creator has rights as a copyright holder and should enforce them against the building and whoever.

Anonymous said...

Actually 10:08am the mural could be considered part of the park now since it is a prominent feature of the park and that makes all the sense in the world.

If Red Bull and the NYC Parks Department aren't violating copyright laws then the owner of the building the mural is on is. There - happy?

Again how is the mural "satire"?

Anonymous said...

Oh btw if you think pulling the "I'm a lawyer card" means anything:

1. It doesn't as plenty of lawyers get their asses handed to them in court even thought they think it's a slam dunk win for them.

2. How do I/we know you're a lawyer? Cuz your Anonymous self says so?

Let's say the building owner was a publicly virulent racist. Charles Schulz's family could say remove the mural as we do not support the building owner's racism and make a case that the mural could create confusion as to what the Schulz family stands for i.e. some people would think the family endorses the racism, some would think the family opposes it, some would have whatever notion about the family. A hypothetical of course but it could be brought into court. Would the family win? That's a whole other story. Tell me they'd lose, ok maybe not. Did Marcia Clark think OJ was gonna get off? I bet not.

Anonymous said...

419pm - another ridiculous hypothetical but good try. Maybe study 1st A law before commenting..,,you know like a lawyer would.

Anonymous said...

4:19: Your comments are becoming less about whether or not you're right or wrong, and more about you seeming to be angry about something deeper then whether or not this is a copyright issue.

"2. How do I/we know you're a lawyer? Cuz your Anonymous self says so?" Pot calling the kettle "black" much?