Update: NJT Retreats (somewhat) On Photo Ban...

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Walter Zullig, retired chief counsel for Metro North Railroad, New Jersey Transit has been forced by advice from the New Jersey Attorney General to back off on its draconian and illegal restrictions on photography of NJ Transit properties, trains and vehicles from public property. Even its permit procedure for allowing photography on NJ Transit property is apparently illegal as presently conceived, and will have to be redrafted after public comment.

This is truly a victory.

Comment from NJ Transit follows:
================================

Thank you for contacting us about NJ Transit. As you are aware, we
recently wrote to the Office of the Attorney General concerning complaints
of people being barred from taking photographs of trains both inside NJ
Transit property and from public sidewalks. We have now received the
Attorney General's response.


Photography outside NJ Transit Property

NJ Transit recognizes it has no authority over people taking photographs
of trains outside NJ Transit property and that there are no laws outlawing
such an activity. To the extent NJ Transit has dealings with local police
departments, it will bring their attention to the fact there is no ban on
picture taking.


Photography on NJ Transit property

NJ Transit will not deny the right to take pictures in NJ Transit stations
to anyone who makes a request through the photographic permit process, nor
will a fee be charged for making such a request. People making such
requests must confirm they have no commercial purpose in taking
photographs. NJ Transit has also recognized that its right to require that
such requests be made may be questionable under the current rules. It is
therefore going to seek to adopt such a requirement under the
Administrative Procedures Act. Since there is an opportunity for public
comment prior to the adoption of a new rule, we suggest that, if you
oppose the requirements, you participate in the public comment period.

To find out when the public comment period is, you can monitor NJ
Transit's website, as well as the Office of Administrative Law's website.
The Office of Administrative Law implements the Administrative Procedure
Act, advising executive branch agencies on how to make rules and requiring
the agencies to follow statutorily prescribed steps in rulemaking. It must
ensure that the formulation of rules includes adequate opportunity for
input by anyone interested and affected. In this capacity, the OAL is
responsible for the publication of the New Jersey Register. You can find
the publication dates of the register on the OAL's website at
www.state.nj.us/oal. You can then check on NJ Transit's website for the
notice it is required to post notifying the public of the comment period.
NJ Transit's website is at www.njtransit.com.

NJ Transit also recognizes it does not have the authority to take cameras
or require the deletion of pictures, absent a legitimate law enforcement
purpose.

Should you be denied a permit to take photographs by NJ Transit, or should
you be stopped from taking photographs by NJ Transit police officers,
employees or local police, you can contact us again. We would require
detailed information about any such incidents, including the name of the
officer/s involved, the time, date and place as well as what occurred.

Thank you for contacting us and for your commitment to civil liberties.

Sincerely

Helen Ford
Intake Manager/Legal Associate

Well we can only hope for the best... I hope its lifted...

Here are NJT's proposed rule changes: http://mysite.verizon.net/scheurle/njtrules.html
There are references to photography on several pages.

The NJT response seems very poorly assembled. Like it was edited by several people and not smoothed for clarity. At least they've acknowledged they're subject to the law. That's a start...

It is therefore going to seek to adopt such a requirement under the
Administrative Procedures Act sounds like it was drafted by a machine.

This is from trainorder.com on Sunday, May 22

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
No ban on subway pix
By PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, May 22nd, 2005

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.

livesteamer wrote:
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.

The NY Times had an article today about the proliferation of private security cameras in NY City. In Times Square, there are more than 200 cameras surveilling the street, ATM locations, sidewalks, subway steps, and other public places. The footage has been useful in tracking criminals, muggers, and allegations of slip and fall injuries.

MTA has several hundred cameras in the subway already

The NJT response seems very poorly assembled. Like it was edited by several people and not smoothed for clarity. At least they've acknowledged they're subject to the law. That's a start...

It is therefore going to seek to adopt such a requirement under the
Administrative Procedures Act sounds like it was drafted by a machine.

Or a lawyer. NJT is going to "seek to" adopt. Talk about open ended.