In a pleasant counterpoint to my previous writing about attempts by various officials to block public photography, the New York Transit Authority has decided not to ban photography in subways. This doesn't mean that they won't still hassle photographers, however. The article states:
"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.
I note that they carefully don't mention how many false positives they had, or the corroborating evidence that these were actually agents, as opposed to Iranians taking vacation pictures. At the very least, though, this public announcement means that non-Arab photographers with IDs probably won't be hassled very much, which is a definite improvement.
