tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post6496935990517631928..comments2024-03-28T22:41:33.502-04:00Comments on Noblemania: Conflict on the sidewalkMarc Tyler Noblemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10732005290440645718noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-87509337567845178602012-10-11T12:21:54.317-04:002012-10-11T12:21:54.317-04:00You stood up to a bully. Good for you.You stood up to a bully. Good for you.Jim MacQhttp://wired.com/geekdadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-4785753068871666982010-09-20T09:06:00.428-04:002010-09-20T09:06:00.428-04:00I got my own timeline wrong. I just checked the em...I got my own timeline wrong. I just checked the emails I saved and turns out I DID email Bryant Park in advance (August 14, four days ahead of the screening) that I would be selling in a city-approved spot.Marc Tyler Noblemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10732005290440645718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-26798358441438336212010-09-01T20:48:14.679-04:002010-09-01T20:48:14.679-04:00I bet that they just don't like not having con...I bet that they just don't like not having control of the venders in thr area around BP they don't own - and I can't believe they didn't know they didn't control all the sidewalks.<br /><br />You called them on it twice,and then when confronted and your follow up and they still wouldn't admit the wrong.<br /><br />You shoulda wrote letters to the Times,News and Post when this happend - I'm sure you wern't the first,or last to have "headaches".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-19829275875381912892010-09-01T20:38:28.075-04:002010-09-01T20:38:28.075-04:00Let me add that I admire that after two years this...Let me add that I admire that after two years this ethical question still bothers you,<br />it shows you are of a good moral fiber.<br /><br />Again, you didn't do anything wrong - especially since they ignored you after you pointed out the list of approved non BP owned sites near the park.<br /><br />If anything, their problem is with THE CITY and not you in this regard - they tried to stop you in your legal right to vend where they had no jurisiction. Heck, the park officer saw the list and he's the law. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-53871181323442081442010-09-01T20:38:13.225-04:002010-09-01T20:38:13.225-04:00Thanks for your comment, Anonymous.
That night, ...Thanks for your comment, Anonymous. <br /><br />That night, after the screening, I emailed him:<br /><br />"Thank you for introducing yourself, though of course I am sorry it was under those circumstances. Between the list of restricted streets from the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bryant Park officer who cleared us upon arriving, and the assurance of my partner bookstore (another NYC institution) that has apparently done this before, I was assured it was within my legal right to set up the table where we did. <br /><br />However, before that, I had told you I would not be on a sidewalk touching the park, and as I said in person, I apologize that I went back on my word. Please know that I fully respect you, understand your position, and appreciate that you did try to find a way to accommodate me inside the park. I hope you understand my position as well.<br /><br />Mostly, I hope we can we shake hands again on good terms at some point in the future."<br /><br />I did not hear back.Marc Tyler Noblemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10732005290440645718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-3962550069021843872010-09-01T20:33:54.776-04:002010-09-01T20:33:54.776-04:00Bryant Park misrepresented what was their property...Bryant Park misrepresented what was their property and and city property. <br /><br />If you could have let them know before hand,they would still have complained but they couldn't stop you. The City of New York allowed you a place to set up. (Who'd guess for once the NYC would do something right.<br /><br />Did you ever make peace with the Bryant Park organization?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-50704040389920659502010-08-31T11:34:20.072-04:002010-08-31T11:34:20.072-04:00I agree with Jonathan Kantrowitz's comment:
&q...I agree with Jonathan Kantrowitz's comment:<br />"It wasn't a promise, it was an agreement based on a misrepresentation, and created no moral obligation whatsoever. If I say to you "this is my property, stay off it" and you say "OK," your agreement is predicated on the presumption that I was telling the truth."<br />The issue is not one of morals, but of manners — which are the lubrication in the machinery of society, and make the world a better place for all. It would have been polite of you to revoke your supposed "promise" before "breaking" it. That you had no opportunity to contact the man is simply the result of the messiness of life. Life is messy, we do our best and move forward. And to move forward at that point, you could have politely apologized for being the subject — not the cause — of his upset. (This is an extra bit of poiliteness I'd classify along with little-white-lies-of-ommission.) But you were not morally obligated to do so, IMHO.ad7amhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01672496081612682119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-80097505093430922332010-08-31T09:36:14.062-04:002010-08-31T09:36:14.062-04:00Thanks for the comments.
Re: Peter, I forgot to ...Thanks for the comments. <br /><br />Re: Peter, I forgot to clarify the timeline. The Dept. of Consumer Affairs would not email me the list of approved selling spots, nor would they give me any info from it over the phone; I had to physically go there to get it. (Why they didn't simply post it online is beyond me.) And I lived in CT, which means I wasn't going to make a special trip in just for that. So I went to the DCA office the DAY OF the movie, gambling I'd find a spot on that list that would work and could proceed directly to the park. <br /><br />This was before I had a smartphone, so all I could've done once I found that I COULD sell near the park would've been to call the Bryant Park people. But whether by email or phone, I was fairly sure they would've still pushed me not to sell, as proven when they showed up and berated me even though I was not on private property. <br /><br />BTW, I don't know if they deliberately lied or simply didn't know. Either way, it wasn't fair.Marc Tyler Noblemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10732005290440645718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-80636295423786301722010-08-31T09:26:22.321-04:002010-08-31T09:26:22.321-04:00Interesting.
The only thing you could have done d...Interesting.<br /><br />The only thing you could have done differently was to announce to them via email that you WOULD in fact be selling books in an area where they did not have jurisdiction. And I would have gotten a little snarky and finished my email with something like "...and I don't appreciate being misinformed, sir. GOOD DAY!"<br /><br />Whatever the case, you were right to sell those books.Peter Brownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-73696253623006489272010-08-31T09:21:01.928-04:002010-08-31T09:21:01.928-04:00it wasn't a promise, it was an agreement based...it wasn't a promise, it was an agreement based on a misrepresentation, and created no moral obligation whatsoever.<br /><br />If I say to you "this is my property, stay off it" and you say "OK," your agreement is predicated on the presumption that I was telling the truth.Jonathan Kantrowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13919729222396777240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6611875170009784219.post-53040840431095957312010-08-31T08:15:13.409-04:002010-08-31T08:15:13.409-04:00I think you nailed the dilemma, Marc, of the lette...I think you nailed the dilemma, Marc, of the letter of the law versus your statement to the park guy, which superseded the law. My take: Sorry to say, your word that you would not sell was a promise to the Bryant Park official. It could easily have been fixed by informing him ahead of time; in that case, regardless of his response you had a legal right.<br /><br />You are a very honorable person even to bring this public!Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13893401446881115179noreply@blogger.com