By Carlos Miller
Amidst all the horror stories of photographers getting harassed by cops, every once in a while you’ll find a gem.
The latest is being reported by War on Photography – our favorite New York based photographer rights website – a train aficionado who never fails to deliver news from the Big Apple’s subways.
A witness reported seeing a Japanese tourist getting harassed by a black male (didn’t mean to make this racial but this is the way it was reported - and it happens to be the trend this month anyway).
The black man started yelling at him, telling him he was not allowed to take photos in the subway system or in Yankee Stadium – where it was recently ruled that you can even take a piss during the National Anthem.
The Japanese tourist asserted his rights. The black man grew “slightly physical” – whatever that means. The Japanese tourist stood his ground.
They argued a bit until the Japanese tourist walked upstairs and found two NYPD officers who were probably white considering their races weren’t mentioned in the original piece on Subchat.
He asked the cops if photography was legal and was shockingly told that it was legal. In fact, the officers even walked downstairs with him and informed the black man that photography was indeed legal.
The Japanese tourist was allowed to continue taking photos.
Even though I have reported plenty of abuses about NYPD, I’ve personally had good experiences with them. But I don’t think I would ever resort to fetching one if somebody was getting in my face about taking pictures in public. I just wouldn’t think it would help my cause.
I hope to see more instances like this.
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10 responses so far ↓
1 Simon Jester // Jul 27, 2009 at 11:00 PM
I love stories like this. Not all cops are assholes. In fact, I believe the assholes are in the minority. They’re just like plane wrecks though. You only hear about the bad ones.
2 mark // Jul 28, 2009 at 12:12 AM
There are good plane wrecks?
Nice blog, Carlos. Keep up the good work.
3 Vidiot // Jul 28, 2009 at 12:17 AM
That’s great to hear. And yes, we definitely should take note. Not because good cops are rare, but because if we’re willing to bitch about the bad ones, we should be willing to celebrate the good ones.
4 Pinandpuller // Jul 28, 2009 at 4:05 AM
Where were all the asshole cops before Pearl Harbor? A Japanese guy took photos of the installations and sent the film back to the Japanese military prior to the attack.
Just to stick up for the black guy, who ‘s ever seen an individual Japanese photographer?
5 Gonzo // Jul 28, 2009 at 11:12 AM
@Pinandpuller
3/10 on the troll-o-meter. I like the sheer audacity of blaming the police for Pearl Harbor, but your narrative lacks an emotional hook, and then you devolve in sheer cliche at the end there.
Better luck next time.
6 Pinandpuller // Jul 28, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Gonzo
I’m pretty sure that I’ve been posting here longer than you so free, slave, Jew or troll-whatever.
No more yankee your wankee…
7 Michaelk42 // Jul 28, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Most of the time the police do their job, and just like this, everything turns out fine.
But like Jester says, it’s more often the wrecks we hear about.
8 NYCPhotorights // Jul 28, 2009 at 8:40 PM
@ Gonzo
If you follow this site you would know Pinandpuller’s real stand on the issue. As Foghorn Leghorn would have said: “That’s a joke… I say, that’s a joke, son.”
9 300baud // Jul 29, 2009 at 2:27 PM
I’m surprised the tourist did not get a travel advisory warning against approaching police.
10 grog // Jul 31, 2009 at 12:57 AM
I believe the yankee stadium restroom example wasn’t actually the national anthem. if I remember correctly, the person in that instance was getting up during “America the Beautiful”, not “The Star Spangled Banner”, which makes it even more ridiculous he was given grief for getting up during its performance.
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