Photos on the 4th: Showdown in Downtown Silver Spring
From Marc Fisher, Washington Post:
“Chip Py’s run-in with the picture police of downtown Silver Spring has morphed into a good old American fight for the right to express oneself.
Py, a Silver Spring resident, discovered earlier this month that what looks and feels like any old public downtown is in reality a private, if roofless, shopping mall where private security guards can and will stop you from taking pictures just because the developer who controls the place feels like exercising its control jones.
Now, amateur photographers from all around the region have decided that they too can flex their muscles, and they plan to gather on Ellsworth Drive on the Fourth of July to demonstrate their right to take photographs in a public setting. The Free Our Streets movement is quickly gathering steam, and that’s caused something of a reaction from the powers that be.
The Peterson Companies, the developer that took advantage of $100 million in generous taxpayer support to get their lovely downtown retail strip going, is apparently running scared, and has offered what it terms a compromise. But it’s an empty offer. Peterson will put up a “Welcome Photographers” banner, but the reality is that the company is in no way conceding that the street it controls is open to the public in any meaningful way”