Yay! (For Now)

Sometimes the little guy wins one.

It's only temporary, of course, but the city of Boston has agreed to get rid of its 19th century laws prohibiting street performers.

If you're not aware, busking is one of the Boston area's cultural gems, as over 400 Cambridge artists alone have licenses to perform on the streets and in other public places. The subways are a popular place for such activity and is the home away from home for my pal Mary Lou Lord – one of the more famous buskers of the Boston area.

Hit with a civil rights suit for chasing street performers out of Boston, the city will drop 19th century laws restricting sidewalk shows while writing new rules, a city attorney told a judge yesterday.

"We agree in principle with the plaintiffs on this matter," city attorney Thomas Donahue told U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, heading off a possible injunction against the old laws.

But Jamaica Plain musician Stephen Baird said he won't believe it until he has a consent decree signed by the judge in his pocket to show any cops who try to silence his guitar.

"It's not in writing yet," said Baird, who's been battling to play around Boston for 30 years and was ordered out of Samuel Adams Park near Faneuil Hall in September. "I have to have it from the judge."

Scores of artists are hoping to hit the streets next week on First Night free of illegal restrictions on their First Amendment rights, he said.