MTA Cops Threaten Filmmaker With Arrest for Filming Buses

November 18, 2010 @ 3:19AM

MTA Cops Threaten Filmmaker With Arrest for Filming Buses

They also threatened to put him on a terrorist watchlist.

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Eric Norcross, a documentary filmmaker, was filming buses in Manhattan when he was confronted by a group of Metropolitan Transportation Authority cops who accused him of terrorism.

The cops pulled up to him in a white SUV with lights flashing and hopped out the car. A uniformed cop and three plainclothes cops surrounded him as he stood on the side of the street with his camera.

This is how he described the incident that took place November 2.

The uniformed officer told me I was committing a “terrorist act” and that filming buses, subways and any MTA property would not only get me arrested, but would also put me on a terrorist watch list.

The cops ordered him to delete his footage. He refused, but opted to leave the area anyway without anymore filming, meaning they had screwed up his workday. He had been trying to finish the project he describes below.

I was shooting footage titled “New York Waking Up” that was going to be included in a short “fairy tale” film I had been working on over the last few months. My idea was to honor the city by portraying our most common modes of transportation, how New Yorkers get around.

So here we have a guy with a professional track record trying to honor the city and ends up getting threatened with arrest and being placed on a terrorist watch list.

Norcross was apparently unsure of his rights to continue filming, so he packed up his gear and walked off. But the incident kept eating away at him, so he called the MTA and discovered that it was nothing but a shakedown.

The filming of buses cannot be illegal, it just can’t be. Neither can the filming of trains. Especially filming from public property. When I called the MTA it was suggested that I could get permission to film for a fee. A fee. I suppose that’s what this is about: not security, not terrorism, but monetary compensation to the MTA. I thought this was about the threat of terrorism. Anyone?

No, it's not about terrorism. It never was. It's all about money. It always was.

Whether it is the billions we've spent on the sex-ray machines at the airport or the millions we've spent on clowns like these MTA cops who have nothing better to do than shakedown a filmmaker.

This is what is called security theater.

Comments

Robert

1 year ago

Wow, just fucking wow. If I had a job I would fly over towards New York and take pictures.

But honestly with TSA going to extremes to hunt down "terrorism" with the new full body scanners, I honestly don't want to fly ever again.

Robert

1 year ago

Why not just boycott photography of New York?
On the grounds that a bus might be captured.
An unrealistic idea, but what would happen to the status of New York as a world-city if no more images were made? No more postcards, no more media reports, a white space on "Google Streetview".
"New York? Never heard of it..."

Tijuana Joe

1 year ago

"No, it's not about terrorism. It never was. It's all about money. It always was."

Ka-CHING. Next item on the docket...

Rance

1 year ago

I would relish this happening to me again now that I know my rights, and how to assert them. I'm pretty good at avoiding confrontations with the blue light gang, but oh man shit like this really chaps my ass...

Guy Fawkes

1 year ago

Hoboken, NJ shakes down photographers too, to the tune of $700.00. I can picture this as a growing trend, with cities and towns hurting from the never ending sour economy looking for new ways to grift the taxpayers.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/11/17/photographing-a-model-in-hoboken/

Tom Jankowski

1 year ago

The NYPD threatens to put someone who films buses on a terrorist watch list, yet they do NOTHING about 13 year old kids who throw eggs, patatoes, and rocks at buses.

Maybe the NYPD needs to be replaced entirely with smarter cops!

chrysler5thavenue

1 year ago

Here's a couple of links that may help in a situation like this. They don't address specifically photographing buses, but they do address photographing inside MTA stations, trains, & buses.

Scan of an NYPD Operations Order that was issued to NYPD officers regarding "INVESTIGATION OF INDIVIDUALS ENGAGED IN
SUSPICIOUS PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE": http://www.flickr.com/photos/manicmaurice/3552760522/

MTA Rules (Scroll down to 1050.9, #3): http://www.mta.info/nyct/rules/rules.htm

The above document says "Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may not be used. Members of the press holding valid identification issued by the New York City Police Department are hereby authorized to use necessary ancillary equipment. All photographic activity must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Part."

When photographing in New York, it may help to have copies of these documents with you.

On an unrelated issue, I don't appreciate having to register to this site just to leave a helpful comment. You may be missing out on comments from other people who have useful insight into specific situations and jurisdictions by insisting on registration. I feel the issues this blog deals with are too important to create barriers to the conversation about them.