Thanks for sharing that.
Tim Street [email protected] http://1timstreet.com/blog http://twitter.com/1timstreet On Feb 18, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Rupert wrote: > From : > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/nyregion/18about.html?_r=3 > > "No Photo Ban in Subways, Yet an Arrest" > By JIM DWYER > Published: February 17, 2009 > > In the map of New Yorks most forsaken places, it would be hard to > top the Freeman Street stop on the No. 2 line in the Bronx, late on a > February afternoon. Around 4:30 last Thursday, Robert Taylor stood on > the stations elevated platform, taking a picture of a train. > > A few buildings in place, he noted. Nice little cloud cover > overhead. I usually use them as wallpaper on my computer. > > Finished with his camera, Mr. Taylor, 30, was about to board the > train when a police officer called to him. He stepped back from the > train. > > The cop wanted my ID, and I showed it to him, Mr. Taylor said. He > told me I couldnt take the pictures. I told him thats not true, > that the rules permitted it. He said I was wrong. I said, Im > willing to bet your paycheck. > > Mr. Taylor was right. The officer was enforcing a nonexistent rule. > And if recent experience is any guide, one paycheck wont come close > to covering what a wrongful arrest in this kind of case could cost > the taxpayers. > > Twice in the last five years, the Metropolitan Transportation > Authority proposed a ban on photography in the subways as an > antiterrorism measure. And in 2007, the city proposed severe > restrictions on filming in the city streets, but retreated when > visual artists and activists gathered 26,000 signatures on petitions > of opposition within a few weeks. > > Both times that the transportation authority tried to ban > photography, it, too, dropped the idea because of opposition. Even > so, people taking pictures in the subways are regularly stopped by > the police and asked to let the officers see their images or to > delete them. > > They dont have to do that, and its completely unlawful to ask them > to delete them, said Chris Dunn, a lawyer with the New York Civil > Liberties Union. But it comes with the explicit or implicit threat > of arrest. Its a constant problem. > > Mr. Taylor a college student and an employee of a transportation > agency that he did not want to identify said he had been stopped > before when taking pictures, but without problems. > > Not this time. > > I said, According to the rules of conduct, we are allowed to take > pictures, Mr. Taylor said. I showed him the rules theyre > bookmarked on my BlackBerry. > > Rule 1050.9 (c) of the state code says, Photography, filming or > video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except > that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may > not be used. > > Then a police sergeant arrived. > > He tells me that their rules and the transit rules are different, > Mr. Taylor said. I tell him, If you feel Im wrong, give me a > summons and Ill see everyone in court. The sergeant told them to > arrest me. > > In handcuffs, Mr. Taylor was delivered to the Transit District 12 > police station, and a warrant check was run. They were citing 9/11, > said Mr. Taylor, whose encounter was described on a blog by the > photographer Carlos Miller. Of course, 9/11 is serious. I said: > Lets be real. Were in the Bronx on the 2 train. Lets be for real > here. Come on. > > Before he was uncuffed, he got a batch of summonses. > > The first was for taking photos from the s/b plat of incoming > outgoing trains without authority to do so, abbreviating southbound > platform. It cited Rule 1050.9 (c). > > The second was for disorderly conduct, which consisted of addressing > the officers in an unreasonable voice. > > And the third was for impeding traffic on a platform that is > about 10,000 square feet. I dont know if you can impede traffic > with 15 people per hour coming on the station, Mr. Taylor said. > > LAST year, the city settled a lawsuit with a medical student who was > using his vacation to photograph every subway stop. He got through > five before an officer handcuffed him and detained him for about 20 > minutes. With legal fees, the cost to the city was $31,501 more > than $1,500 a minute. > > In the case of Mr. Taylor, the officers misinterpreted the rules > concerning photography, said Paul J. Browne, the Police Departments > chief spokesman. The Transit Adjudication Board is being notified > that summons was issued in error, resulting in its dismissal. > > However, the police will press on with charges of impeding traffic > and unreasonable noise, Mr. Browne said. > > For his part, Mr. Taylor said he was late meeting his girlfriend: It > wasnt a pleasant sight. I said, Ill make it up to you. What else > could I say? > > Thanks to the police, they might end up with more than a nice dinner > or two at taxpayer expense. > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
