lefty1
join:2002-10-25
Clay, NY
| reply to Stacy
Re: Stopped by police- You can't photograph here...
Twenty years ago I did some freelance work for New York State DOT so I was in and about Grand Central Station....
Earlier this week I was shooting in Times Square when I was approached by a couple of cops near the recruiting center who wanted to know "if they could help me." There certainly are no laws against shooting in Times Square but New York's Finest certainly know how to encourage you to move on.
I've had no problems taking pictures inside Grand Central, but since 9/11, New Yorkers are positively paranoid about tourists taking pictures of almost anything but the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped in Manhattan, usually not by policemen, and asked what I was taking a picture of. And it's always something innocent; usually an architecturally interesting building or structure that seemed otherwise meaningless. Once I was even stopped after walking past a synagogue with a camera bag on my shoulder. I didn't have the camera out and I didn't notice it was a synagogue until someone from the synagogue followed me down the street and in effect told me to keep moving. I assured him I had no intention of taking a picture of his building, but I would handle that same situation differently today.
Funniest one: I went down to Alphabet City to take a picture of the Filth Mart, which at the time was partially owned by Drea De Matteo of The Sopranos (hoping I might catch a glimpse of her highness) and some very upset old guy came out of a nearby building across the street and asked me what I was taking pictures of.
I have taken a few innocent pictures in the subways, but I always make sure there are no police or subway employees around. |
