If we can’t take a picture of Aunt Mabel on the D train (“ummm, how did we wind up at Coney Island?”), the terrorists win.
The New York Daily News on proposed new regulations to help deter terrorism in the subways:
Smiling will still be allowed on the subways, but – sorry, tourists – taking pictures may soon be banned.
Transit officials, at the request of police, yesterday proposed prohibiting photography and videotaping in the subway system and on buses – hoping to thwart terrorists from gathering information for an attack.
There are various other rules proposed, such as no walking between cars (I committed that particular crime quite often back when I lived in Gotham City); no shoes on the seats, and no jumping the turnstile even if you have a valid fare card that malfunctions.
NYPD Transportation Police Chief Michael Scagnelli said police would use discretion in issuing summonses to shutterbugs. But violators could be questioned and subjected to background checks, he said, and have their film confiscated.
New York officials were recently planning for possible subway terrorism in a four-hour drill, coordinated by the Office of Emergency Management and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
NEW YORK (AP) _ City officials staged a mock explosion in a lower Manhattan subway station early Sunday May 16, simulating an incident with 200 injured and 40 killed to test protocols and communications among emergency personnel from multiple agencies.