time is a little over 10:16pm . . . .
was in a real hurry. . . .
trying to catch the subway train to get home at the earliest possible time . . . . .
swiped my card, then swiftly proceeded to the stairs going down . . .
on the top of the stairs, i heard the intercom annnounce the next Queens bound train
is two stations away . . . . i am gonna catch the train ! ! ! !
Breathed a sigh of relief . . . .
sat at the topmost, left side, towards the wall side of the stairs to catch my breath . . .
nobody coming or going down or up the stairs . . . theres only me there . . .
And that folks is how i got my $50 citation for"obstruction seating" . . .
At least thats what is check marked on the  ticket . . .
cop approached and asked if i was waiting for the train . . . said yes . .
then asked if i ever been cited or in trouble there before . . . said never . . .
asked if i have any identification . . . . presented mine . . .
i thought this was one of those routine things cops do whenever
they pick on someone to check on . . . .
didn`t worry or alarm me a bit. . .
next thing i know  . . .he was writing the details on my identification card
on a thick ticket book . . .
asked him whats wrong or what did i do . . . .
said he will explain later after he`s done . . .
tore off the ticket and gave it to me . .. . then told me i can`t sit on the stairs. . .
and that was it . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .
oh. by the way, he told me that if i go to the hearing . . . . .
they might let me off with a warning . . . . . .
he could have just gave me the warning and i would have obliged . . . .
there were no signs or warnings telling anyone not to sit on the stairs at any time. . .
even for a second . . . .
i missed my train . . . . . . .
and the connecting LIRR train that stops once in a long while
on saturdays  . . . .where i live . .. . . . . . . .
Don`t know if i was lucky just to get a $50 ticket . . . . . . .
I heard it could have been much worse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Get used to it as this shopworn excuse for a nation

edges ever closer to totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism?!? I think it's pretty much the will of the people--mature, civilized, thinking people anyway--that others should keep their stinking feet off of the seats on public transportation.

ive had tickets dismissed, because the cop wrote a pile of imaginary tickets at differnt times in non sequential order from the first ticket for farebeating.

i have a good reason to hate lying cops, they are all liars who havent been busted yet.

I got a speeding ticket and the cop wrote in that he stopped me at a street that didn't exist I even brought in a printout of google maps showing it. When I brought this up to the judge the cop said "We call 108 road 107 street on precinct maps." WTF! Stupid judge went with it.

I'm not seeing how the highlighted case is ridiculous. The mother and son were not headed to school. Seems like an improper use of a student card?

And, what evidence did she present that her version is true? For that matter, why should we believe it here?

Yet I'm guessing the solicitors, beggars and crazy subway preacher twats are being left alone.

Yes because these people will just ignore tickets anyway. tis not about deterrence it about the city being broke. They do this every time there is a budget shortfall.

yes they are, have you read the NYDN commenters?

You can bet your bottom $ that the cops have a quota of fucking tickets to write

holeee crap they got the white people.

Was there some sort of ticket blitz today? There were three cops at my station today. Two were giving out summonses to two kids (skipping school?) and one was staring at me trying to look for something to ticket me for.

Last 2 weeks of the month, cops go on a blitz to catch up on the quota.

Be on your best behavior at the end of each month.

Can they start giving summonses to people who sit spread eagle on the subway? You weigh 150 pounds, dude...you don't need to take up three seats.

...also, people who listen to their ipods so loudly, you can decipher the lyrics from across the train?

Let's be grateful that Cellphones DON'T yet work on the train.

yeah, life isn't fair! also, let's ticket smelly people and whiny little bitches.

and the folks playing music on their MP3 enabled phones like they're the new ghetto blasters.

Indeed.

And I know musical taste is a matter of opinion and whatnot, but why do the people who do these things always listen to the shittiest music? I never hear anyone blasting Ennio Morricone or Pink Floyd or Rodrigo y Gabriela. I mean, I'd even settle for some generic pop music. It's always obnoxious and overly bassy hip hop or salsa. Though there is this one dude I see on the 6 train a few times a year who not only blasts death metal, but growls along with it loudly, while playing drums on his legs, with the drum sticks he carries around with him.

In a moment of pleasant surprise two weeks ago, this super thugged out looking guy was blasting music on his ipod; but he was listening to Bowie's "Sound and Vision". Made my day!