Public Space Privatization: Legal Analysis of Corporate Encroachment on Taxpayer-Funded Plazas

[00:00:00]public. So, we covered a story a while back about a bench in front of a building, a very like upscale building.

[00:00:05]They would not bar people um from sitting on the bench even though it's public space and it's funded by the city.

[00:00:10]>> That's part of their lease that the area >> is belongs to the public.

[00:00:15]>> Yes.

[00:00:15]>> Okay. Give a [ __ ] >> I say I'm twice your size, son.

[00:00:19]>> Yeah. You represent this building and the owners.

[00:00:22]>> I'm a what?

[00:00:22]>> A [ __ ] >> You seem like that to other people, too.

[00:00:25]>> Yeah.

[00:00:27]>> Kind of.

[00:00:28]>> Listen.

[00:00:28]>> Okay. So like when you curse at me for walking through a public plaza, you represent this building too.

[00:00:33]>> I don't give a [ __ ] >> Yeah, I'm just sitting here. This guy comes up.

[00:00:37]>> All of this because this guy's sitting on this bench in front of this building.

[00:00:40]Mind you, this bench is for the public.

[00:00:44]>> Saying it's a public space, >> but we were told not to let people sit there. They want to keep the beauty of the building.

[00:00:52]>> So the building owners are saying they don't want anyone to sit here >> to focus on elderly people. So you see the the LA people here on the side right here. They're kicking them out >> on a Saturday afternoon. You have a south facing sign right over there that says open to the public. That would imply >> that's insane.

[00:01:08]>> You see what I'm saying? You see this [ __ ] Look at that on screen. It says open 24 hours to the public. And yet they still because they're mandated by law to actually have that sign there.

[00:01:18]>> That's the same building that started the uh whenever you were sitting down, they started the [snorts] sprinklers.

[00:01:23]That's the same building. I think I remember that. I think they did do that to some of the people. I don't know if it's >> and then and then that's that's where the city got a problem because they're not allowed to operate the sprinklers from certain time to time.

[00:01:32]>> Paul 116 says that every single public plaza has to have this sign. And not only that, it has to list all of the amenities that are in the plaza.

[00:01:42]>> You know what I'm saying? Think about [ __ ] or something. You're going to lose your life. You going to lose your life.

[00:01:46]>> That's what he said, >> bro.

[00:01:48]>> They taking the public's money, but they want to keep y'all away. Why? You heard the lady say. She said what? Well, we were told not to let people sit there.

[00:01:57]They want to keep the beauty of the building.

[00:01:59]>> She said they want to keep the space beautiful.

[00:02:02]>> Turns out having regular ass people is ugly.

[00:02:06]>> Have you ever been kicked out of this space?

[00:02:08]>> You can't be here, man.

[00:02:10]>> You know, this time you're going to get locked up. Okay?

[00:02:12]>> You're going to go to the hospital, then you're going to go to jail.

[00:02:14]>> This little plaza here uh on 59th Street behind TJ Maxx is owned by the city.

[00:02:19]>> I threatened him with violence. Let's just start there. And in fact, there used to be a public market here. But in the '9s, the city rented out the space underneath the bridge to a couple of companies. Uh, one of which became Trader Joe's and the other which is this kind of fancy event space called Guavino.

[00:02:36]>> Gustavinos.

[00:02:37]>> So, what about this little plaza outside? Well, Guavino says that this is their private garden. And when they're doing events here, which is almost every day, they'll put out velvet ropes and the security guards will tell you to leave. And they even put up some little signs that say that this is their private garden. But we actually did a bunch of research and all the records are clear that when the city made this development, a part of the deal was that this little plaza be preserved as public space. We even got the lease from the city which says, uh, you guessed it, public space. So, what's going on here?

[00:03:13]Well, we're going to try to get to the bottom of this. So, drop a follow if you're interested. We'll keep you posted. throughout society a weird I want to say weird that's not the right a malicious effort on behalf of the wealthy to use taxfunded or public belonging spaces for themselves at the expense of the public whilst also denying public access. So when your tax dollars go to create these spaces or fund them or maintain them or when you are leasing it with the understanding that this is accessible to the public and then that private enterprise then uses their power their wealth to be able to exclude you. That is something that I feel is like proliferating throughout society. We see it with these data centers. Uh we see it with these lots in these kinds of locations here. There have been so many initiatives where you've seen rich people essentially do whatever they want with specific industries and then demand bailouts on behalf of from the taxpayers and government money when they have taken big risks at our expense and then we have to bail them out. There's a lot of that that I feel like is a continuous thing that's expanding and now it's even the case with public spaces. We're seeing that happening potentially with some parks where cities are thinking of giving ownership of parks to other places or to companies where they can use their discretion to whether or not these spaces are accessible to the public. I feel like a story like this, again, we're talking about a courtyard, but it's not about the courtyard. It's about the fact that this belongs to the people and they're denied access because a private company wants to use it for their event organizing because it's a beautiful courtyard. either they have to pay the people and pay into the city what it's owed so that they can raise the funds to own take ownership of that courtyard or they have to relinquish the rights, but they can't have the people pay for it and also own it. We're going to part two.

[00:04:54]>> So, I came here to do a little update video um to thank people and tell them what's going on. And as soon as I got here, a guard came and said that I can't record here.

[00:05:03]>> No recording on these premises.

[00:05:04]>> Okay?

[00:05:05]>> Not whatsoever.

[00:05:06]>> Okay? And if I do record, >> there's no recording on those premises.

[00:05:09]That's the bottom line.

[00:05:10]>> Okay. Because >> because this is private property. It's not public. You want to RECORD ON THE OUTSIDE. OKAY.

[00:05:14]>> You go on the outside. That's perfectly fine. Dad, that you back in the public, but no.

[00:05:18]>> So, I'm allowed to sit here but not record. You >> can't record.

[00:05:22]>> And now he's um he went to make a phone call. Now he's going to I guess he's coming back. I don't know. So, there he is. [snorts] And yeah, we'll see what happens. I don't know. Um I'm a little bit flustered, but it's going to be okay.

[00:05:36]Um, I just I mostly wanted to thank people. I'll tell them thanks for all the support. We're working on the lawsuit. Uh, but right now, like that's going to take a while. So, we're just trying to see if people can keep on uh tweeting or tagging Mayor Manni and maybe he could get this thing resolved once and for all.

[00:05:58]So, I wasn't going to post this. I was going to wait for the lawsuit. But so many people have commented to say, "Well, why don't you just go over there and wait for them to call the police on you and the police will sort it out?"

[00:06:11]Well, I tried that.

[00:06:13]>> If you could just police them off property, it is private property.

[00:06:16]>> Why do you say it's private property?

[00:06:17]I'm just That's what that's kind of the crux of the the issue here. Cuz if it is >> What is a catering?

[00:06:22]>> If it was the private private public, it's that sidewalk.

[00:06:27]>> Why do you say that though? Because >> they have signs posted everywhere that it's private. Okay. It's the signs that are the ones.

[00:06:32]>> Yes. The signs and other >> there is their establishment. It's not area.

[00:06:36]>> And it's a public space. So, >> not a public public space.

[00:06:39]>> Okay. Are allowed to deny you entry since it's a private establishment.

[00:06:43]>> A bunch of other officers came. Uh they escorted me out. I tried to show them the lease. They didn't want to see it.

[00:06:49]Um and they said that the signs were what they were going by. So, obviously, we need to get the signs removed. uh but uh legally with a judge's order and we also want to ask the judge to put up a new sign that says that this plaza is public property. Guys, you don't have to leave. It's a public space and it's open 24/7. There's a sign right over there that says so. Brother, just leave him alone. Just let him relax. It's a hot night.

[00:07:20]>> Did he try to tell you guys to kind of leave >> it? Yeah, exactly. Guys, don't don't fall for this crap. Seriously, >> that's what you're trying to say, dude.

[00:07:28]Look at it, right? Like, it's beautiful because if you let these little incremental things, what happens is it creates precedent and it creates a standard. I'm glad that people are fighting back against the data centers.

[00:07:37]I'm glad that people are fighting back against these kinds of initiatives. I'm glad that people are taking the time because it's important because by the time you realize it's actually a big deal or you come to terms with that, sometimes it's too late. Sometimes it's in law. Sometimes it's a standard that's already been set. There's levels to the [ __ ] where it starts like that and then after that it gets into uh the public sector of television. It happens in television where there's some funds that are supposed to be for the public that certain corporations what they do is that let me give you an example. All right. Right here you have TV, right?

[00:08:10]And you have funded TV and then you have everything that's web. And people that usually do web, it's more people that don't have the means to be on the TV. So there's not another outlet for the people. some some programs that are funded for certain people around here to go do some um platforms on the web and they can apply for grants, right? What these private corporations do sometimes is that they're going to create little companies that going to do web and I'm going to take all the submission that's supposed to go to the people and then take it from them. They just let me just they find a loophole. That's a little bit better because they find a loophole.

[00:08:44]But I think that that's the first that's the first start of that. you you you don't care because it's there might be just it's just a public space or maybe might be other public space. It starts with that and it gets bigger and it gets to another point where it's just the norm. You see the cops they come they got in there and they did not check.

[00:09:01]It's private people. You know what I mean? I'm supposed to work for the people but I don't care. It's private property. They didn't check by the way.

[00:09:07]So you have to check that and you have to check those companies in order not to be like a normal thing that they usually do. Oh yeah, we're just going to use this.

[00:09:18]We're just going to use that. The cops are not going to check. The they're not going to check. The city's not going to check. It's it's it's our stuff. It's not your stuff. It's the public. And then after that, we're going to we we're going to complain that we don't have enough funds for other things yet. Our funds are going to uh to to uh make the keep up of those areas while we can't even use them. So, it's it's it's and and often it happens. You have to stop those things because they they will they will not stop. You know when they say you know when they say you give someone a a hand and they take like the whole arm. Corporations are even worse than that. They are they become very quickly entitled especially when there's money to be made. When they do these events like that they have money. So they're using your taxpayers money in order to make money and they're not even putting money back into whatever the taxpayers are in the city. That's also a problem.

[00:10:11]You're going to use what is used. You're going to use what is made for the people, but you're going to make money with it and you're not even going to reinvest in the people after that.

[00:10:19]That's the >> Someone said data centers are different.

[00:10:21]Not really. No.

[00:10:22]>> The what?

[00:10:23]>> Data centers require everyone else to accept the fact that their electricity bills are going to skyrocket or raise tremendously by the fact that it's deconstructed there and the profits that are erected from the data centers do not go back to those same people. They don't get to make all this money from the profits that are risen from the fact that these companies get to, you know, make much much more money. You can't say that data centers are different. They're essentially a huge downside for most of the residents that live nearby and feel the effects on their power grid and their infrastructure. You might say it brings money in terms of economy and things like that. But I've always found that whenever people do these kinds of breakdowns where they claim that industry will pop up because this new building showed up, those things are always over inflated to the moon. and vast majority of them I feel like never bear out even half to a quarter of what they claim in terms of the benefit to the local economy. So, I don't know. I just don't I don't agree with that. And I think too often, you know, taxpayer money is just used for private corporations and rich and we're expected either through ignorance, through silence, through corruption to just accept that, to accept that standard.

[00:11:31]And then when we think about the cost of living rising and everything else involved, it's like, oh yeah, here's something else we want to pile on for this new set of infrastructure that will not alleviate any of your struggle.

[00:11:40]Actually, never mind. It's going to make it harder cuz you're going to pay more.

[00:11:44]I don't think that's an acceptable thing.

[00:11:46]>> So, what did I do? I looked at the Do website. I looked at open violations and found out that there is an open violation at this exact plaza. Guess what it's for?

[00:11:56]No movable tables.

[00:11:58]>> So, it's super important to keep an eye on these plazas and see what h in what ways are they actually trying to keep people away. And so a lot of them essentially take advantage of these spaces and like plazas, especially like park beds like these, they're great.

[00:12:14]When you're in a big city, it breaks the continuity of just buildings. It gives you a place to sit down with a bit of nature around you. I um actually that's probably one of the things that I like the most about. For example, when I was in Barcelona, that's probably my favorite thing. They do a great combination between city streets, residential areas, and park benches and like greenery everywhere. Like every street in Barcelona has some of that. It makes you go through side streets and really enjoy. It's accessible and inviting for the public to walk through your own neighborhood or your own areas, but it's also accessible for people who are not from there. It makes it be like, I'm just take a random side street. It's always really nice. But the idea that these are going to be spaces that exist here or North America in general and that they're meant for the public and that these [ __ ] greedy ass corporations, they're going to do [ __ ] like that. We can't. He's like, "Not only you going to try to own everything, but at the same time, you gonna make me pay my tax dollars for the [ __ ] [ __ ] that you trying to take ownership of that don't belong to you.

[00:13:07]Imagine owning a car, somebody else is the only one who's allowed to drive it, but you got to make the car payments.

[00:13:12]That's crazy." Yeah, we just getting closer to that cyberpunk future. And that's what I think about every time. We really are closer to 2077 than we realize. Because if you aren't aware, cyber punk is sitting in this like dystopian future where corporations kind of run the world and there's like these, you know, three to four corporations which basically run the local governments and everything. And I feel like every day we just feel like the the bond between [ __ ] [ __ ] billionaires uh rich millionaires or billionaires and you know these politicians, you see the overlap. You see the fact that elected a [ __ ] con man like Trump or you see the fact that Elon Musk was allowed to have access to everyone's personal data as a private citizen and being able to do whatever the [ __ ] he wants with dos except find fraud. You see the way that like the the PR surrounding the ultra wealthy is just constantly being turned out to make them more likable. But I promise you there's going to come a time where they're going to have so much power >> they won't even care about being likable or not.

[00:14:05]>> They just going to run their [ __ ] pockets and tell you get the [ __ ] off my lawn. They going to have their private security roll up at your door and pick your ass up. It going to be like that.

[00:14:14]And you can feel it. Like, you know, one of the most bizarre things over the last four or five years is watching the public become so infatuated with these rich billionaires who want to extract everything out of them for their own enrichment at their expense. Evan Oir snake, the Canadian guy.

[00:14:29]>> Yeah.

[00:14:29]>> Getting up on television trying to convince the public about how they need data centers and it's for their own good, knowing damn well all that's going to do is enrich himself.

[00:14:39]It has been fascinating. And the only reason these dudes even follow the law is because it's still kind of necessary.

[00:14:46]Won't be for long. No, not if they get their way. That's >> why I woke up this morning and got yourself a gun. Yeah. In cyberpunk future, that [ __ ] not going to save you.

[00:14:56]Fair.