Protest against photban on June 6th!

[SeldenJrFireman]

Jay:

I agree with you, putting it that way makes it like a circle. The railroad has the authority to tell you what to do, but sometimes they dont. I was at Ronkonkoma May 28 at around 9 PM (with my dad) Video taping the Westbound trains that leave around that time. At the head end of the train, the engineer looked straight at me with my video camera in hand. He could have asked me to put it away, asked what I was doing there so late with a camera OR call MTA police but didn't.

This is my final point on this topic. Dont worry about the ban, Keep taking Pictures. Emfinite and Jay have probably had many run-ins with each other. Once the people kind of get used to you being there and know all that you are doing is taking pictures, they won't get to worried about it. Plus, some RR employees have no problem with railfans, as long as there out of the way.

Mike

[DogBert]

Getting back on topic.

The protest happened, and was well attended.

Links to coverage of it can be found here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/2 ... 3051c.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/nyreg ... ubway.html

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/protest/flashmob.html

http://www.netherworldonline.net/mtaphotoprotest.htm

http://www.samueljohnson.com/blog/archi ... 6a.html#6a

http://www.the-collective.net/~locutus/ ... 00977.html

http://www.unrelatednews.com/weblog/arc ... 00470.html

http://www.satanslaundromat.com/sl/archives/000337.html

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/ ... uck_it.php

http://www.gothamist.com/

Protest site:
http://photographersrights.mtude.com/


The facts are simple:

if terrorists want photos of trains, they'll go online to get them. Same goes for bridges, tunnels, architectural layouts, etc. Everything is already online or published. The horse left the barn decades ago.

Criminalizing railfanning takes away an added layer of security. criminals or terrorists avoid people with cameras because they don't want to be seen, and railfans know when something looks odd and are more likely to report it than anyone else.

Terrorists will just commit anything they need to memory and not risk being caught with a camera.

Last I checked, The MTA is a government agency. Subways are paid for with our tax dollars and fare money.

Banning photography in the subway ystem is basically the MTA waving a white flag and surrendering to terrorism. What's next? banning websites with rail and subway photos? Book burning? Renaming the MTA the 'metropolitan Taliban Association' and making all women riders cover themselves head to toe and ride at the back of the train?

We have nothing to fear except fear itself... unfortunately, there's a lot of people out there letting their fears run amuck over the rest of us who know far far better than to be naive enough to think that giving up our rights will somehow make us more secure.

[JoeLIRR]

DogBert,

your so rite.

I said it plenty times before, a photo band = the American sorender to terrist. Think: as an american do we want to let them (lifes F@#$up's to to the world to win aganst the soposed greatist countury in the world) excuse the color lnguage. Whats next no pictures of buildings/ cars(inc, your own/ and many others great things in america. maby the grand canyon?)
I hope im not going on a tangent here, but this is what it look like it may come to. I feel for the engineers and train crew who may be worried by railfans taking pics trackside. but w/ bettter communication the railroad will benifit much more from railfans being ussed as undercover security gurds. the only trade off is the right to take pics is returned to use. but we must volinterily serve and protect the railroads we railfan. i think that will work 100x better then "paid" officers who sit in aircondition vehicles eating/drinking donuts/coffey.

all in all it wount hurt to try this, it can only benifit. there will be RULES tho such a program, but in the name of american freedom/security i think it will work.

[SeldenJrFireman]

"i think that will work 100x better then "paid" officers who sit in aircondition vehicles eating/drinking donuts/coffey"


"Car 54, where are you?"

[JoeLIRR]

Car 54 is in the nearest duncan donuts parking lot.

"this is car 54 to central come in"

[SeldenJrFireman]

"Car 54-check out Mineola station. there is a complaint of suspicious activity, please see Mr. Akbar upon arrival."