The New York street bookseller documentary, 'BookWars' (TERRIFIC - LA Times) was the only first person, street-level feature documentary which addressed then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani's controversial 'Quality of Life' campaign.

What was 'Quality of Life?'

NYPD under mayor Rudy Giuliani hassled sidewalk booksellers in New York during the controversial 'Quality of Life' campaign - as seen in the bookseller documentary, 'BookWars'

When Rudolph Giuliani was elected Mayor of New York City in 1993, he devised a program colloquially referred to as 'Quality of Life'. The proposed aim was to clean up the city of New York in adherence to sociological/criminological notions of the 'Broken Window Theory.'

NYPD officer confiscates a sidewalk bookseller's books in New York during New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's controversial 'Quality of Life' campaign, as seen in the New York bookseller documentary, 'BookWars'The NYPD begins to enforce obscure technicalities which govern the uses and dimensions of the sidewalks, thereby making it more difficult to earn a livelihood. A new tax identification number requirement is introduced, creating bureaucratic obstacles, especially for those street booksellers who are marginal or virtually homeless.

Nearby New York University unlawfully places imposing, massive planters on the sidewalk in an attempt to drive the street booksellers away. Finally (especially on 6th Avenue where the majority of black street booksellers are active) the NYPD comes to confiscate and haul away books.

What was worth cleaning up was of course subjectively determined by those intent on doing the cleaning.

Besides "unsavory" institutions like porn shops, New York's Quality of Life plan was also designed to control and limit individuals who existed outside of the system, especially those who lived on or made a living on the street.

The first targets were the most visible and also the least organized (and therefore the most defenseless): the homeless and the semi-homeless, ala, the once-ubiquitous squeegee guys.

Inevitably, street vendors of all sorts were challenged, including street booksellers all over the city--despite their First Amendment Rights.

Bookseller Resistance

Many of the booksellers resisted, thanks to pro bono legal assistance and their own petitioning efforts. And in the end, despite some areas of the city being shut down to street bookselling, the booksellers withstood many of the initial challenges that the Mayor's Quality of Life plan presented.

On W4th street, the police acted with more restraint unless prompted by an outside complainant. Most of the officers the filmmaker encountered as a caucasian (*minus suntan) street bookseller were fairly reasonable, and they often admitted they had better things to do then to confront sidewalk booksellers.

The nearby University appeared to consider street booksellers to be incongruent with their corporate image. Thus, they sought to do away with them by applying steady pressure via the local 9th precinct. Under the umbrella of the Mayor's Quality of Life program, the University whittled away at the civil liberties of those individuals who made a living selling books on West 4th street and in other areas in its sphere of influence.

Community Support

In the end it was many of the University's 's own professors and students who signed the petitions presented at community board meetings in defense of street booksellers.

In the documentary, some street booksellers resist and assemble to form an unlikely common front to protest against the actions of the city. Others, who have had their books confiscated, wait for hours at the police station to get them back. Still others, like Ron, rail against the futility of the city's efforts to stop New Yorkers from reading, because of their virtual addiction to books.

In the end, the street booksellers stand their ground against the Mayor, and are able to continue selling with some adjustments to their way of life. However, the tone and tenor of the city has changed in the process, and the life of the sidewalk bookseller has become, overall, less 'free'' and appealing overall.

See 'BookWars' here

'BookWars' is a film by Jason Rosette

Listen to Leonard Lopate discuss the 'Quality of Life' campaign on WNYC (archived podcast here) https://www.wnyc.org/story/56530-giulianis-quality-of-life-campaign/