Bluejake

I know the MTA isn't exactly known for being responsive to its customers, but this photography-ban stuff is ridiculous. The first announcement of the proposed ban was met with widespread protest, and after a couple of weeks of bad press, the MTA quietly shelved it. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago they decided to revive the ban idea, and tried to sneak it past the subway-riding public during the holiday season. So once again, about forty photographers, photobloggers, and free-speech advocates gathered at Grand Central for a little flash-mob protest/ride through the system (More pix at KilltheBird). In case you missed the protest, here is a recap of the big ideas:

1. The photography ban will not stop terrorists from photographing in the subway- cameraphones and small, fast cameras make it easy for anyone to take pictures unobtrusively.

2. The ban will mainly inconvenience tourists, amateur photographers, and photobloggers, who pose no threat to public safety.

3. The ban will waste precious police resources, as cops are forced to write summons and arrest innocent people for snapping pictures on the subway.

Please write in to the MTA to tell them to shelve this unnecessary and wasteful proposition.

[Unrelated: I am setting up a low-volume photoblogger mailing list for announcements related to photography in NYC- probably just a weekly bulletin on good events and locations to shoot, and other relevant info- Apple Store events, Photoblogger Gallery shows, etc. To subscribe, send an email to nycphoto-subscribe at yahoogroups dot com.]

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