NYC Rappers and Their Right to Washington Square Park

In our class discussions about using public spaces, we talked about concepts such as the Right to the City (i.e. Right to Appropriate Space and Participation), and Lived and Planned Spaces. We explored these concepts in various real world examples such as the Franklin Park case that we saw in the video. The Franklin Park case and the concepts reminded me of a community of rappers who were pushed out of Washington Square Park (Greenwich, New York), by the city government and law enforcement.

In the episode, “Pass the Mic”, of Netflix series, Hip-Hop Evolution, Washington Square Park was said to have been a “sacrilegious” site of artistic expression for local rappers, where they could utilize their Right to Appropriate Space. In the park, local rappers would gather and form ciphers or “spontaneous freestyle sessions” to demonstrate their ability to improvise and create rap lyrics over hip-hop beats. This was a social space where people interested in the art of hip-hop could come together and express themselves. However, their Right to Appropriate Space was forbidden by NYC mayor, Rudy Giuliani, and enforced by the NYPD to prevent the distribution of drugs at the park. Rather than allowing the Lived Space to continue to flourish with ciphers, people with power like Giuliani and institutions of power like the NYPD used their ability to control the Planned Space under the guise of drug prevention. Thus, the “magical” and “friendly” place of gathering, belonging, and artistic expression was broken up and removed, because it was deemed a “quality-of-life crime” or, in other words, a non-criminal activity that would lead to other crimes. In the episode, this policing method is illustrated with the sounds of sirens, a police officer shouting, “There’s too many of you,” and local rappers walking away in frustration. As a result of this policing method, rapper Talib Kweli said that his first arrest was because of this “quality-of-life” crime. Another rapper highlighted the racist implications of their removal when he said that, “they figure any time the darker toned, or just hip-hop generation, gather together, it’s something negative.” In the end, not only was their Right to Appropriate Space diminished, but their Right to Participation was also undermined.

From the Washington Square Park case, we get a sense of how people in positions of power do not include park users into the discussion of how space should we used; therefore, undermining their Right to Participation in the decision making process. In the episode, Talib Kweli lamented that, “When Giuliani became mayor, they were trying to bring more tourists in from the outer Burroughs and other states.” Although mayor Giuliani was trying to develop a tourist economy and bring revenue back to NYC, I am almost certain that he did not include the community of rappers, who used the space, into the discussion of how the park should be utilized for tourism. Thus, the appropriation of this space in the name of tourism occurred at the expense of a community rappers and their artistic expression. This instance reminded me of the Franklin Park case, where we saw an Black social space turn into an inauthentic and superficial flower garden in the name of tourism for economic revenue. Instead of creating an inauthentic space of tourism, like we saw in the case of Franklin Park, I think Giuliani and his administration could have supported the cipher activities in this Lived Space. Then, tourists may have gotten an authentic view of a type of social life in NYC and, at the same time, an artistic community could have flourished in the public eye. Moreover, perhaps, revenue may have been generated from the ciphers if tourists paid to attend and view such an activity and the revenues may have gone to the development of the local and public community. The funds could have also gone to the support of forms of artistic expression such as hip-hop.

In conclusion, this Lived Space was prohibited, because it was not an acceptable activity in the public realm and it was considered a gateway to criminal activities. In addition, it did not fall in line with the vision of the NYC government to make the park a tourist destination (Planned Space). However, the repression of such an artistic expression did not halt the notoriety that hip-hop would hold in the NY community and the world. In fact, rappers like Talib Kweli were aware of the “cultural currency” that was inherent in this art form. So, the ciphers were moved to rented spaces like the Lyricist Lounge, where future renowned hip-hop artist would hone their art form and share it with the world.