Posts Tagged 'PATH'

How Well Does NJ Transit Know the Law?

Published January 31, 2011 Photographers' Rights 4 Comments
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A self-described train enthusiast took it upon himself to test the people who work for New Jersey Transit on if they know their own photo policy. Pretty uneventful, except for a PATH police officer who gets a little handsy and invokes the Patriot Act.

PATH Police: You’re in a train station here, OK?
Guy: OK.
PATH Police: It is part of the Patriot Act if you want to look it up you can, OK?

I can’t find where it says you can’t film train stations in the Patriot Act. The PATH does have its own policy barring photography, which is outrageous considering it is a public entity. (I know firsthand because I was ordered to stop taking photos of my nephew in a PATH station.) It’d just be nice if these people knew the laws regarding their jobs, though.

No Photography Aimed at PATH Stations

Published August 10, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment Leave a Comment
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I’ve had my own run-in with the ridiculously self-important New Jersey PATH security, and today the War on Photography blog posts a video shot by man aiming his camera at PATH trains while not technically on PATH property – he was shooting from Newark’s Amtrak station. Even still, he was stopped by a janitor, then security. 

It’s horribly wrong – not to mention illegal if you really want to put a fine point on it – that this public place, a government entity, funded with taxpayer dollars, has decided to enforce a no photography policy. Unfortunately, as one of our earlier commenters pointed out, it’ll take a major lawsuit for the Neanderthals that run the transit agency to see the error of their ways. 

Article from War on Photography

PATH Cop Targets Mom, Grandma and Newborn

Published May 18, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 20 Comments
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Kim Hudson

On Friday afternoon I was in the Christopher Street PATH station in New York City with my mom, my sister and her baby. My mom and I were taking pictures of the baby, her with an iPhone and me with my camera, when the Port Authority officer came over and told us sternly “No pictures, no pictures.” Though I knew this was absolutely ridiculous – and groundless – I wasn’t going to make a scene there with my family. All we could do was laugh. If three women cooing over a baby are now a security threat, well … I don’t know. It’s just unfathomable.

Considering the hot water New York’s MTA subway system and Amtrak have been in lately, you’d think the PATH would be more aware of the law. What’s more, Boing Boing posted an NYPD document yesterday outlining their stance on photographers – and, in a nut shell, it says it’s perfectly legal and they should refrain from harrassing people shooting in public places. (The NYPD does not patrol PATH stations, but the agencies work very closely with each other.)

I contacted PATH authorities to find out their policy on photography. They told me their private bylaws allow them to outlaw photography in their stations – despite it being a public place and a government entity. To voice your concerns about this incident, contact the Port Authority Police at (201) 216-2677.

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