Rodriguez v. Winski, 973 F. Supp. 2d 411

Plaintiffs include Ydanis Rodriguez, Occupy Wall Street participants, elected officials, and journalists, suing multiple private and public defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
The case centers on alleged First and Fourth Amendment violations and related state-law claims arising from Occupy-related displacements at ICMP, 100 William Street atrium, Zuccotti Park, and the World Financial Center's Winter Garden.
Defendants are the private owners/operators JPMC (ICMP), Mitsui (100 William Street atrium), Brookfield (Zuccotti Park and Winter Garden) and their employees, plus MTA, its police, and Coan and Lakeram.
Plaintiffs allege arrests, closures, and removal by police during protests and claim private owners acted in concert with police, seeking civil damages and various relief.
The court granted JPMC, Mitsui, and Brookfield motions to dismiss; granted in part and denied in part the MTA motion, and granted severance of Sullivan’s MTA claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether JPMC’s ICMP denial violated the First Amendment.	ICMP functioned as a public space imposing First Amendment rights.	ICMP is privately owned and not a public forum; no government nexus.	No First Amendment claim against JPMC; ICMP not a public space under state action theory.
Whether Mitsui/Brookfield acted as state actors for § 1983.	Private owners jointly action with NYPD or perform public functions to exercise state power.	No joint action or public-function state action; private spaces not state actors.	No § 1983 state action; no vicarious liability against Mitsui or Brookfield.
Whether the public-function or joint-action tests render Mitsui/Brookfield liable.	Ownership of POPS/public-spacelike venues makes them responsible under public function.	Evictions involved independent police judgment; no public-function trigger.	Public-function theory fails; no state action by Mitsui/Brookfield.
Whether § 1983 claims against MTA (Sullivan, Coan, Lakeram) survive.	MTA personnel violated Sullivan’s First and Fourth Amendments; Coan liable for policy; Lakeram for arrest.	No demonstrated MTA policy/custom; lack of personal involvement; Coan/Lakeram official capacity claims fail.	Dismissal of MTA policy/official claims; Sullivan's First Amendment claim survives against Lakeram; false arrest survives; excessive force and some claims dismissed.

Hudgens v. N.L.R.B., 424 U.S. 507 (U.S. 1976) (private property generally not constrained by First Amendment absent government nexus)
Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551 (U.S. 1972) (private shopping spaces not subject to First Amendment unless government involvement)
First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City v. Salt Lake City Corp., 308 F.3d 1114 (10th Cir. 2002) (private property with public access not automatically a public forum)
Evans v. Newton, 382 U.S. 296 (U.S. 1966) (public-function/public-entwinement concept limited to extraordinary circumstances)
Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501 (U.S. 1946) (operation of a company town as a public function)
Ginsberg v. Healey Car & Truck Leasing, Inc., 189 F.3d 268 (2d Cir. 1999) (private party aiding police is not automatically joint action under § 1983)
Ciambriello v. Nassau Cnty., 292 F.3d 307 (2d Cir. 2002) (elements of § 1983 conspiracy require explicit agreement and overt act)