Anti-Skadden Picketer Had No Speech Rights, Brookfield Says

Brookfield Properties argued that protesters don’t have free speech rights at privately owned public spaces, asking a judge on Monday to nix a lawsuit from an anti-Skadden protester who says he was unconstitutionally removed from such a space outside Skadden headquarters.

Attorneys for Brookfield cited a 2015 Manhattan federal district court decision that said New York City could remove an “Occupy Wall Street” protester from Zuccotti Park, another so-called POPS.

“The First Amendment,” the Brookfield attorneys wrote, “does not apply to POPS.”

The letter signals that protester David O’Keefe’s suit against Brookfield and New York City may turn into ...