On Monday, the Boardwalk Task Force held a public hearing to receive comments on the new street performer ordinance enacted in late July and review what worked and what needs tweaking. A recurring theme throughout the public hearing, during which several buskers and members of the business community testified, was the new registration and rotation component. For the former, the sign-up and rotation process was “miserable” and “broken” and needs to be removed, while the latter opined the registration element restored the peace and order on the boards this summer.
In recent years, Ocean City has struggled with the proliferation of street performers, from musicians and magicians to spray paint artists and caricature artists and from costumed characters to even a pole dancer. While street performers have been around for practically as long as there has been a Boardwalk, in recent years, the town has wrestled with where they can set up and what is considered protected freedom of expression under the First Amendment.
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only if pole girl can have a spot!
ReplyDeleteAlso are performers who are playing music paying the correct royalty fees to the song publisher. Plenty of ways to crack down on buskers without infringing on their rights. Playing a song in public during a performance requires paying a royalty.
ReplyDeleteWell almost every band that plays at bars and concerts performs covers, so that's a bit silly. I was recently at a breaking Benjamin concert and they covered tool, nirvana, staind and even dirty Diana by michael Jackson lol.
Delete2:02 excellent idea, let the music publishers shut these freeloaders down. Now we need something to get rid of the homeless bumms and street people.
ReplyDeleteOC makes it more difficult than it is. Simply educate tourists to not give handouts to phonies. I see them board the Park and Ride bus all the time carrying their wheelchairs on. They don't become a sad handicap until they sit in the chair on the boardwalk and beg.
ReplyDeleteoc is enough of a freak show without these "entertainers" clogging up the boardwalk, the folks from Washington r entertainment enough
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteAlso are performers who are playing music paying the correct royalty fees to the song publisher. Plenty of ways to crack down on buskers without infringing on their rights. Playing a song in public during a performance requires paying a royalty.
October 29, 2015 at 2:02 PM
And don't forget they are making a profit off of it!!
I can't stand walking on the boardwalk and having to walk around these creeps and the freak show. What makes them think they can occupy city real estate rent free.
ReplyDeleteLet one of us try to build on a city lot without paying fees and rents and see where it gets us.
They need to hire thugs to beat the crap out of the homeless bums and drive them out of OC. They are begging for cash to buy drugs and booze. Bus them to Salisbury, they will fit right in with the others downtown.
ReplyDeleteThe town already pays salaries and benefits for over 100 thugs.
DeleteKeep in mind they work for tips.. go ask the hat guy where his business liscense is then just take the hat.. he is preforming an art.. if he asks for money out right it's a business.. he has to give you the palm leaf hat..
ReplyDeleteim sure they all are paying taxes on their tips
ReplyDelete