Marc Ecko, fashion designer, is getting into government with his latest project: a campaign to get Mayor Bloomberg to reverse his decision to ban a Marc Ecko graffiti party, scheduled for next Wednesday.

The urban sportswear designer held a press conference yesterday with civil rights attorney Daniel Perez and a slew of New York graffiti artists, announcing an Ecko lawsuit against the City of New York for revoking the companyÂ’s street permit for the event.

Billed as a “graffiti street festival” by Ecko Unlimited, the scheduled party would take place on 22nd St. between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from 10pm from noon until sundown, and feature ten fake subway trains, available for tagging by 20 graffiti artists selected by the company. The event’s permit was recently revoked by the city, who deemed the party illegal because of strict anti-graffiti laws.

Speaking to a select crowd yesterday at the Ecko Unlimited headquarters, Marc Ecko said, "We developed plans for this event over 10 months agoÂ…we have worked hand-in-hand with [the city] to ensure this event was executed within their guidelines and would be a fun and carefree day of expression for all involvedÂ…I am not a provocateur and I have tremendous respect for our elected officials. But I canÂ’t stand here today and say that I condone censorship, and that is exactly what I am faced with when a permit we have had in hand for several weeks and have worked on for several months is unjustly revoked."

"This is a case about censoring our rights, those who believe in graffiti art, to paint live and to choose our canvas and our means of expression. Even after we went as far as securing a single security guard for each artist, arranging for barricades to surround each mural, and get signed contracts from the artists which would subject them to heavy fines if a single drop of paint left the designated painting area.”

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