Stop the hypocrisy, I want to get off!

My opinion of the MTA police is thus... they are an organized crime syndicate, and they should all be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I'm convinced you have to fail an intelligence test to qualify for the NYPD.

I've seen tourists take photos. Once a cop approached a couple of German tourists and told them "No pictures". They said ok & he walked away. I understand German and heard one of them say "dope" in German. They're right.

I've visited Germany many times, taking photos in the U-Bahn (Subway) of Frankfurt and Munich with cops nearby. They never walked toward me & asked for ID. I'm tired of this law enforcement paranoia BS that 9/11 created.

Some of it is also in what may the the culture of the NYPD itself. Cops have to look for aberrant behavior. To many cops, taking photos in the subway is plain silly or crazy. I have been questioned by cops when they saw me photographing artwork at the 66th Street (Lincoln Center) station. To be frank, they think we're nuts.

I think someone in here quoted a cop saying "go take pictures of squirrels"

www.forgotten-ny.com

Why is the NYPD failing to clarify the rules with respect to subway photography? Is it perhaps that they have no authority to make up rules since we have not yet been declared a police state? Is it perhaps that they KNOW that the officers in question, including the sergeant that authorized the arrests, are either incompetent or overzealous petty tyrants who attempted to make up their own law on the spot?

Whatever the answer the actions of the NYPD towards this photographer and towards photographers in general in inexcusable.

The NYPD tried and failed to get a legal ban on photography and now they are trying to enforce a de-facto ban through intimidation as opposed to legislation. FOR SHAME!!

nycphotorights.com

Come on, guys. You should cut NYPD some slack. If they got rid of every idiot on the force, we'd be completely unprotected. Nobody with a brain wants that thankless job. Even if it is often deservedly thankless due to stories like this.

As others have pointed out, the MTA's rules -- which explicitly permit photography as long as the photographer isn't using lights or other ancillary equipment, isn't blocking anyone's way, and fulfills other similar conditions -- are in fact state law. If the NYPD asserts a law that trumps those rules, I'd be very interested to find out where.

I'd love to see a scan of the ticket or arrest report -- don't the cops have to put down the number of the law that you're being accused of violating? I've never heard of an "unauthorized photography" law, and wish the NYPD would quit making up laws. (Or if it's legit, then cite this information and be clear about it.)

I've been stopped repeatedly for shooting pictures in the subways. One time a transit cop refused to believe that there was no law against photography in the subway. I wrote a complaint letter and got back responses from both the MTA and the NYPD, which confirm that photography is legal. (The NYPD's letter also, unfortunately, weaseled out of some of my concerns and ignored others.)

And, I've also been asked for ID and told that al-Qaeda "sometimes hires guys who look like you."

Simply put, there are enough laws for the NYPD to enforce without making up entirely new ones to harass people who aren't causing harm. If they're suspicious of a person or a situation, they should of course check it out. But they don't have to be intimidating about it, they don't have to tell falsehoods about illegal acts that haven't happened, and they don't have to arrest people who haven't done a thing.

there was a bum on the 105th and Broadway platform this afternoon around 2:30 that smelled so fucking bad people were horrified. That is like inhalation anthrax to the third degree-the hell with photography. Bring the hoses and a bar of soap

yuck

New station?

Sorry I meant 103rd Street and Broadway! Thanks for being so meticulous. Have a great day!

I love the disorderly conduct charge, which is just a tidy tack on if you object to being arrested.

I just saw this:

Photographers converge on new Scotland Yard.

However, Vallée explained that the majority of photographers present at the event had previously been the victims of unnecessary checks by police officers and that the situation was getting out of hand. He questioned whether police officers were, in fact, trained on photography rights.

Things are tough for photographers all over.

I hope the NYCLU actually sues the city this time.

Maybe it's because the subway drivers shouldn't get a flash right in their eyes every other station.

While the city's finest were harassing this gentleman, there was probably a guy exposing himself on the train.

I get the crackdown on quality of life crimes, but cmon...a guy taking a picture of a train pulling into the station??

Since when have cops not made up their own rules on the street? Now that amateur photographers are being harassed, the Upper West Side imbeciles are noticing?

Ah, but there's a difference! The time-honored way of doing it is to simply make up "facts" about what you did, to say that what you did broke some existing law whether it actually did or not.

This new approach is to report accurately what you did, but make up a nonexistent law that your actions violate.

I guess that's progress in law enforcement.

I should also mention that the goals of terrorism are to make democratic societies compromise their values.

Art = Terror?!? Our society (esp. the NYPD) have made up their own rules regarding how to treat artists and photographers in a fear driven post 9-11 world. Forget reasoning with or quoting actually law to police - they will throw the book at you, hence - "Unreasonable voice/disorderly conduct".

It's sad that people used to inquire about my photography while working on the street. Now I'm a threat to the homeland because I have a unique interest and pursuit.

I could complain about the terrorists winning but our own Bush leadership through fear did this to us on purpose. (Read "shock doctrine" - N. Klein)