EricKonieczny
22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 14:28
No ban on subway pix
By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Click away without fear, shutterbugs - a controversial proposal to ban photography in the subways is dead. The Police Department recently told transit officials the photo ban is unnecessary, the Daily News has learned.
"We are not pressing for a ban," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told The News.
Not having a ban will not hinder the NYPD's efforts to safeguard the city's vast transit system, Browne said.
"Our officers will continue to investigate, and intercede if necessary, if the activity - photo-related or not - is suspicious," he said.
For example, Browne noted that cops stopped two men photographing tracks leading into a tunnel under the East River in Queens in November 2003. The men turned out to be Iranian intelligence agents and they were booted from the country.
"The NYPD can continue to take such actions without a ban," Browne said.
The Transit Authority formally proposed a ban on photography, videotaping and filming in subway stations, on trains and on buses last year. TA officials said the proposal stemmed from an NYPD Transit Bureau request.
But NYPD brass and Mayor Bloomberg almost immediately expressed concerns about the scope of the proposed ban. They also questioned how it could be implemented and whether law-abiding tourists would get caught up in the crackdown.
Civil libertarians and photographers also blasted the idea as a violation of their constitutional rights.
The measure has languished for a year without a vote by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
"In the wake of the public comments period, after consulting with the NYPD, which had originally requested the rule change, MTA NYC Transit will not go forward with the institution of a photo ban," TA spokesman Charles Seaton said.
"However, we will continue to work with the NYPD on all public safety issues involving the subway system."
Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign cheered the decision.
"Everyone I spoke to thought you couldn't impose a workable photo ban without violating both free speech and a sense of what the subways are all about," he said. "It's part of the city's life.
"To tell a tourist from Ohio, or New Yorker from Brooklyn, they can't take pictures of their family in the subway is nuts."
Several Catholic schoolgirls demonstrated how underground photography can help combat crime earlier this month.
The girls used a cell-phone camera in a Queens subway station to snap photos of a man who allegedly flashed them on an F train. He was arrested after cops used the cell-phone photo to track him down.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/311945p-266702c.html
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 22, 2005; 6:09 AM
NEW YORK -- A proposal to ban cameras in subways to prevent terrorism has been dropped by police and transit officials. The move comes a year after city transit officials came up with the idea to forbid photography, videotaping and filming in subway stations.
The New York Daily News reported in Sunday's editions that police and transit officials said a ban is not needed to secure the nation's largest mass transit system.
"Our officers will continue to investigate and intercede if necessary, if the activity _ photo-related or not _ is suspicious," police spokesman Paul Browne told the paper.
The proposal by NYC Transit, a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had been criticized as too far-reaching by civil libertarians, photographers and some city officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200220.html
By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Click away without fear, shutterbugs - a controversial proposal to ban photography in the subways is dead. The Police Department recently told transit officials the photo ban is unnecessary, the Daily News has learned.
"We are not pressing for a ban," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told The News.
Not having a ban will not hinder the NYPD's efforts to safeguard the city's vast transit system, Browne said.
"Our officers will continue to investigate, and intercede if necessary, if the activity - photo-related or not - is suspicious," he said.
For example, Browne noted that cops stopped two men photographing tracks leading into a tunnel under the East River in Queens in November 2003. The men turned out to be Iranian intelligence agents and they were booted from the country.
"The NYPD can continue to take such actions without a ban," Browne said.
The Transit Authority formally proposed a ban on photography, videotaping and filming in subway stations, on trains and on buses last year. TA officials said the proposal stemmed from an NYPD Transit Bureau request.
But NYPD brass and Mayor Bloomberg almost immediately expressed concerns about the scope of the proposed ban. They also questioned how it could be implemented and whether law-abiding tourists would get caught up in the crackdown.
Civil libertarians and photographers also blasted the idea as a violation of their constitutional rights.
The measure has languished for a year without a vote by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board.
"In the wake of the public comments period, after consulting with the NYPD, which had originally requested the rule change, MTA NYC Transit will not go forward with the institution of a photo ban," TA spokesman Charles Seaton said.
"However, we will continue to work with the NYPD on all public safety issues involving the subway system."
Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign cheered the decision.
"Everyone I spoke to thought you couldn't impose a workable photo ban without violating both free speech and a sense of what the subways are all about," he said. "It's part of the city's life.
"To tell a tourist from Ohio, or New Yorker from Brooklyn, they can't take pictures of their family in the subway is nuts."
Several Catholic schoolgirls demonstrated how underground photography can help combat crime earlier this month.
The girls used a cell-phone camera in a Queens subway station to snap photos of a man who allegedly flashed them on an F train. He was arrested after cops used the cell-phone photo to track him down.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/311945p-266702c.html
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 22, 2005; 6:09 AM
NEW YORK -- A proposal to ban cameras in subways to prevent terrorism has been dropped by police and transit officials. The move comes a year after city transit officials came up with the idea to forbid photography, videotaping and filming in subway stations.
The New York Daily News reported in Sunday's editions that police and transit officials said a ban is not needed to secure the nation's largest mass transit system.
"Our officers will continue to investigate and intercede if necessary, if the activity _ photo-related or not _ is suspicious," police spokesman Paul Browne told the paper.
The proposal by NYC Transit, a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had been criticized as too far-reaching by civil libertarians, photographers and some city officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200220.html