Ex-prosecutor David O’Keefe set out to make one point — that Big Law should have fought Trump’s executive orders — but now finds himself at the fore of another heated issue: whether the public can protest at privately owned public spaces.
O’Keefe says in a complaint that property owner Brookfield and the NYPD violated his First Amendment protections when he was arrested and charged with trespassing while protesting Skadden’s $100 million deal with President Donald Trump. The incident occurred at a Brookfield-owned so-called “POPS” abutting Skadden’s Hudson Yards HQ, he says.
The suit’s poised to revive a pitched battle over free speech rights at such spaces.
“The courts have not resolved what the status of these spaces is and what kind of expressive rights we have in them,” Thomas Healy, a First Amendment professor at Seton Hall Law, told me. “I think this case will force them to.”
- A similar fight occurred during the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, when protesters challenged their eviction from lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, another privately owned public space. A New York State court allowed the city to remove the protesters, saying that even if they did have First Amendment rights there, that wouldn’t allow them to freely camp out in the park.
- That decision left the issue unsettled, said Michael Linhorst, an attorney for a Cornell Law School First Amendment clinic that’s representing O’Keefe.
- Mary Anne Franks, a George Washington University Law School professor, said that O’Keefe has an “uphill battle” under US Supreme Court precedents for applying the constitution to private actors. If successful, the suit “would be a significant expansion of free speech protections,” she said. Read More
John Catsimatidis’ New Role
Billionaire Gristedes owner, political donor, and radio host John Catsimatidis is now trying his hand at acting in the Timothée Chalamet movie “Marty Supreme,” out on Christmas.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and her rival in the 2026 gubernatorial race, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, both convened for a screening Tuesday night in a Manhattan AMC at Catsimatidis’ invitation.
The Josh Safdie-directed movie centers on a 1950s New York Ping-Pong player, with Catsimatidis in a small role. In a scene released by A24, Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet, pitches Catsimatidis’ character on orange table tennis balls.
Catsimatidis took a few questions from me about his career turn.
MV: Were you playing a character or just being yourself?
JC: When I was doing the scene, I felt it was me, my personality. That’s what Josh Safdie does, he hires New York characters. It’s a New York film, and I play a New York character.
What did you learn about acting?
That you’re not going to do everything in one take. I do a 5 o’clock show with Rita Cosby, and it’s live. We get it done in one scene. In movies, they do it 50 times over.
As a CEO, you’re telling people what to do. How did it feel taking direction?
I bit my tongue. I followed what I’d want my employees to do when I say something.
Is acting a new career path for you?
I’m not going to turn anything down if they offer it to me. I can dream about going to the Oscars.
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Listen: Behind the Scenes at Cadwalader
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, New York’s oldest law firm, answered the question of remaining independent with a resounding no when it announced a merger with Hogan Lovells last week.
In the latest episode of our On The Merits podcast, Bloomberg Law’s Meghan Tribe gets into what forced the more than 200-year-old firm to put itself up for sale, and what made Hogan leap at the chance to merge. Tribe also talks about what this could mean for the pro bono deal Cadwalader struck with the Trump administration earlier this year. Listen Here
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Commentary & Opinion
Four ‘Unrivaled’ Litigators Share Leadership Lessons in 2025
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