[Leica] Re: NYC Photo Permit

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Jul 26, 2007, at 7:09 PM, Chris wrote this comment to Tina's post:

> Here is the part of the rule (proposed NYC Photographer's Permit)  
> that most people don't like:
>
> Film or still photography activity involving a tripod and a crew of  
> 5 or
> more persons (at one site for 10 or more minutes) would require a  
> permit,
> or the same activity among two people at a single site for more  
> than 30
> minutes.
>
> Don't set up that tripod until your ready to shoot and leave the  
> entourage
> at home!.  What does one site mean?
> "but I moved the tripod 20 feet officer..."
> "Shut-up wise ass and keep those hands where I can see them"

While I agree that the permit requirement is a significant  
infringement of a photographer's civil rights, I also find myself in  
reluctant agreement with the intent of the permit proposal. I had an  
office near Gramercy Park in NYC for over 20 years. The area is in  
the heart of the photo district and the park itself is a favorite  
site for fashion shots and movies. More often than not the streets  
are crowded with camera crews, lights, and trailers. Sidewalks are  
shut off. Thorofares are blocked to traffic. And that's only the  
professional photo crews. Hordes of NYU film students use the area  
for their class projects. Tripods in the middle of sidewalks during  
lunch hour are a real hazard. Unless you live and/or work in NYC it  
is hard to appreciate the amount of traffic and the number of  
pedestrians that take to the streets during the lunch time break (11  
a.m. to 2 p.m.) or at the evening rush hours (4 p.m. to 7 p.m.).  
Anything that interferes with the flow of hungry New Yorkers seeking  
the nearest Sabretts hot dog wagon or the rush to subways and the MTA  
or LIRR causes trouble. Not quite as bad as a terrorist attack but  
equivalent to the landing of a Martian space ship in Central Park.

Photography in NYC should be unrestricted before 8 a.m. and after 7  
p.m. and all legal holidays and weekends. But the taxpayers and  
residents deserve unrestricted access to the sidewalks. Pedestrians  
whose tripods are kicked over by disgruntled pedestrians have my  
sympathy but not my support. I suspect my feelings are shared by most  
New Yorkers.

Larry Z