Time for half the board to get forged press passes...

Say it ain't so!

I hope the photo permits (if they even issue them) won't be too hard to obtain.

For those of you too lazy to click on the link:

MAY 20TH, 2004

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has proposed a ban on taking pictures or recording video in the subway system as a security precaution.

The idea is to hamper terrorists from surveilling potential targets. Exceptions would be made for members of the media and those with written authorization.

Among the other safety changes under consideration is prohibiting straphangers from walking between subway cars except during an emergency evacuation.

The MTA also wants to crack down on fare jumpers.

The changes require the approval of the MTA’s board.

On Boston's "T", photo permits are required.

They're not too hard to get, but nobody questions you anyway even if you don't have a permit.

I wonder if NYPIRG would be able to get us strappies permits?

That wouldn't be a bad idea.

How about Gene throwing the 1st Amendment in the faces of the MTA.

"The idea is to hamper terrorists from surveilling potential targets"

As if they haven't taken enough pictures by now.

Sort of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped.

STATEMENT ON PROPOSED RULES OF CONDUCT
FOR NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY AND BUS RIDERS


Today, MTA New York City Transit proposed the first major changes to its Rules of Conduct for subway and bus riders in about a decade.

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign is sympathetic with the goal of making the subways safer and we support most of the proposed rule changes. But we have several concerns, which we plan to raise during the 45-day state-mandated public comment period for these proposals.


We object to the proposed rule that would completely ban taking photographs, film or video in the subways and on buses with limited exceptions . We respect the need for security in the transit system, but believe that there are important values in having photographers document life and conditions on the subways and buses.

The Campaign notes that in this year of the subway centennial, the MTA itself is sponsoring an exception of photographic images "offering a peek into the lives of New Yorkers throughout the decades, from quiet moments reading on a crowded train to grandstanding youths on an elevated platform." Photographers in the MTA-sponsored exhibition include Bruce Davidson and Henri Cartier-Bresson. (See MTA News Release at http://www.mta.info/mta/news/currentyear/040405.htm

The rule provides two exceptions that raise serious First Amendment issues of favoring one kind of expression over another. The rule would permit photographs by "members of the press holding valid press identification cards issued by the New York City Police Department" or "others duly authorized in writing to" take photos, films and video. No standards are detailed in the proposed rules for issuing such authorizations

Another rule would prohibit any person from "performing an act" with "may interfere with or may tend to interfere with the provision of transit service or obstructs or may tend to obstruct the flow of traffic on facilities Š." The Campaign is concerned that the "may tend to" language is vague and overbroad and might criminalize regular rider behavior, such as stopping for a moment in front of a turnstile to take out your MetroCard.

The Campaign supported a rule that would clearly prohibit "using the end doors of a subway car to pass from one subway car to another unless directed to do so by" a transit employee or police officer. But the Campaign urged that the rule be clarified to permit such passage in an emergency situation.


New York City Transit has said that the complete text of the rules will be posted at www.mta.info.

Damn, maybe they got tired of John taking too many pics. LOL

Belmont,

Thank you.

BTW - Doublecheck the link you have to the MTA item. It returns with page not found.

Can NYPIRG really supply permits?

There's a stray .) at the end...

http://www.mta.info/mta/news/currentyear/040405.htm

And I haven't been able to take any pics yet with my brand new camera. I hope they don't put a ban on photography.

Thanks for the update Belmont. Maybe this breaking news can be put on the Straphangers Campaign main page?

Chances are not much will change after this band. Most people still won't care, and you'll be able to get away with it. The big thing that will change is that when a cop or T/O tells you to stop taking pictures, or to delete them, you'll have to..

I urge all Straphangers and NYCSubway.org and any other rail photography, or rail advocacy agency to come together and all show our disgust for these rules especially on photography. Documentation allows for history to be preserved and it is a hobby that will be lost. Please everyone if meetings are brought up, please come and show your support. Numbers speak! SHOW SUPPORT!

Good thing recording sounds is not considered to be a threat to national security.

We could make picket signs saying "We're hobbyists not terrorists" or something like that.

I already have enough problems trying to do aviation photography. WHy not shoot me - it would be a quicker, less painful way to go!

I'd hold that thought, B.

On other issues, check out this thread/article on SubTalk which favors us railfans.

Thread

Article

Make shirts that read "I AM NOT A TERRORIST"

Watch the po-pos and the T/Os give you a hard time anyway...

Yeah - i wouldn't say that and give them any ideas...

Remember all the rumors about Furbies?

Anything we say now can be construed as a possible "terrorist plot" or "plan" they will do. I can say "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches" and the next day, they will be declared illegal because they pose a threat.

The terrorists have won. We just refuse to admit it.

Since when has taking a simple picture become such a monumental risk for one person to take a photo? Why must that person hide the camera within 40 bags instead of just being able to take it out and take a picture with it.

Since when was a guy taking a picture of the biggest pile of bird poo in the subway system considered a terrorist? Oh yea, I will use these photos of bird poo, this train door, this streetlamp and this manhole to plot a MASTER PLAN OF TERROR! Oh yea, sure.

But as the hackneyed adage goes: anything's possible.

Face it, we lost. The world is no longer a cool place.

If this goes the way we don't want it to (strict enforcement/a bad adventure like the guy in Montreal), what's going to happen to the MoD trips that are now running once a month? Most of the railfans who make those trips are avid photographers, too.