New York City’s licensing requirement for street vendors includes sellers of hats painted with graffiti and is a valid, content-neutral restriction on speech that does not violate the First Amendment, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
The court found that the graffiti hats and clothing did not qualify as “paintings” that are exempt from the licensing requirement under a 1997 permanent injunction. The decision overturned a district court injunction barring the city’s enforcement of the requirement against street artists.
