Kris
December 1st, 2004, 09:57 AM
December 1, 2004
Feet on the Floor, Please
By SEWELL CHAN
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/12/01/nyregion/subway.184.1.650.jpg
To Thomas Perone, 23, of Brooklyn, putting his feet up on the subway is "no big deal" if nobody else needs the seat.
The Darwinian world of the New York City subways is not known for its gentility. Riders charge into cars before passengers have a chance to exit. An empty seat can set off a sharp-elbowed scramble. Grown men have been known to refuse to give up seats for pregnant women.
Yet a code of conduct has existed for decades, with occasional revisions. It bans graffiti, drinking alcohol, smoking, littering and panhandling. Listening to a loud radio is forbidden. So is lying down or taking up more than one seat.
To this list of rules governing behavior in the subways, transit officials want to add this: Do not place your feet on the seats.
The prohibition is included in a set of regulations, published last week in the weekly New York State Register, that would update the laws of subway and bus use for the first time since 1994. While an average subway user may never have heard of the Rules of Conduct - part of Title 21 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York - they are enforceable by police officers and transit workers, and violations can result in a summons and a fine, or prosecution and a jail sentence.
The rule banning the use of seats as footrests, which would also apply on buses and subway platform benches, seemed to strike a chord among subway riders fed up with seat-hogging.
"These seats are not ottomans," said Joseph Walls Jr., 30, a mailroom worker from Brooklyn.
Stephanie Peterkin, 39, a bartender from Staten Island, said it was common sense that putting one's feet on the seats is rude. "I'm a grown woman, but my mother would still smack me for that," she said.
The proposed regulations, totaling 3,900 words, traverse the fuzzy boundaries between public and private space, extending rules of etiquette into the realm of mass transit and specifying proper conduct with a degree of precision that may surprise many passengers.
Riding a bicycle in the subway has long been prohibited. Now, straddling a bicycle while the subway or bus is moving will be banned too. The use of skateboards, skates and scooters will also be proscribed.
Passengers, who are already not allowed to ride between subway cars, will be prohibited from moving directly from one car to the next, except when directed by transit or police officials.
Not all of the proposed rules would add restrictions. Some would clear up vaguely worded guidelines that may have long mystified the law-abiding rider. For example, although riders may not take up more than one seat, the new rules state that they can indeed place a package or bag on an empty seat, if no one else wants it.
And while unauthorized commercial activity is banned, the new rules make it clear that registering voters is permitted. (Think of your civic duty the next time the bus is stalled.)
The president of New York City Transit, Lawrence G. Reuter, said in May that new rules were needed "to enhance safety and security." A spokesman for the agency, Paul J. Fleuranges, would not elaborate on that statement yesterday. "We've said our piece about the rules changes," Mr. Fleuranges said.
An assortment of passengers interviewed on five subway lines said the new rules came as a surprise. Some spoke passionately about their need to rest their weary feet.
"That's ridiculous," Monica Hunken, 23, said of the proposed ban on using seats as footrests.
"I work until 4:30 in the morning, and I put my feet on the seats because I'm tired and there's no one else there," said Ms. Hunken, who works at a bar in the East Village. "It's not harming anyone."
Thomas Perone, 23, an unemployed chef from Brooklyn, rested his size 11½ feet on the end of a row of empty seats as he napped on his way to Manhattan. "I put my feet up all the time," he said after awakening. "As long as nobody needs the seat, it's no big deal."
James Santana, 19, who planted his Timberland boots on a seat on a Q train near Times Square, looked annoyed when he was asked about his posture. "I'm just tired," he said, eyelids drooping. "I work the overnight shift. Sometimes people just like to punch out."
Penalties for violating the Rules of Conduct range from a fine of up to $100 to a jail term of up to 10 days, but some riders questioned the transit agency's ability to monitor passenger behavior. "There are thousands of rules, but nobody to enforce them anymore," said Joe Lieb, 80, a retired transit police officer from Brooklyn.
In addition to codifying subway etiquette, the rules would prohibit the jumping of turnstiles, even by a passenger with a valid fare card who leaps a gate because it has malfunctioned. " 'Turnstile jumping' and related conduct, whatever the stated rationale, create an environment of disorder," the proposed rules state.
Rider advocates have focused their ire on a proposed ban on photography, filming and videotaping on subways, buses and Staten Island Rapid Transit trains. "There are important values in having photographers document life and conditions on the subways and buses," said Neysa C. Pranger, an organizer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. Journalists with Police Department credentials and people with written authorization from the transit agency would be exempt from the ban.
Members of the public have until Jan. 8 to submit comments on the proposed rules, listed on the Web at www.mta.info/nyct/rules/nyct.htm . The rules will then be subject to a final vote by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent agency of New York City Transit.
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Feet on the Floor, Please
By SEWELL CHAN
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/12/01/nyregion/subway.184.1.650.jpg
To Thomas Perone, 23, of Brooklyn, putting his feet up on the subway is "no big deal" if nobody else needs the seat.
The Darwinian world of the New York City subways is not known for its gentility. Riders charge into cars before passengers have a chance to exit. An empty seat can set off a sharp-elbowed scramble. Grown men have been known to refuse to give up seats for pregnant women.
Yet a code of conduct has existed for decades, with occasional revisions. It bans graffiti, drinking alcohol, smoking, littering and panhandling. Listening to a loud radio is forbidden. So is lying down or taking up more than one seat.
To this list of rules governing behavior in the subways, transit officials want to add this: Do not place your feet on the seats.
The prohibition is included in a set of regulations, published last week in the weekly New York State Register, that would update the laws of subway and bus use for the first time since 1994. While an average subway user may never have heard of the Rules of Conduct - part of Title 21 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York - they are enforceable by police officers and transit workers, and violations can result in a summons and a fine, or prosecution and a jail sentence.
The rule banning the use of seats as footrests, which would also apply on buses and subway platform benches, seemed to strike a chord among subway riders fed up with seat-hogging.
"These seats are not ottomans," said Joseph Walls Jr., 30, a mailroom worker from Brooklyn.
Stephanie Peterkin, 39, a bartender from Staten Island, said it was common sense that putting one's feet on the seats is rude. "I'm a grown woman, but my mother would still smack me for that," she said.
The proposed regulations, totaling 3,900 words, traverse the fuzzy boundaries between public and private space, extending rules of etiquette into the realm of mass transit and specifying proper conduct with a degree of precision that may surprise many passengers.
Riding a bicycle in the subway has long been prohibited. Now, straddling a bicycle while the subway or bus is moving will be banned too. The use of skateboards, skates and scooters will also be proscribed.
Passengers, who are already not allowed to ride between subway cars, will be prohibited from moving directly from one car to the next, except when directed by transit or police officials.
Not all of the proposed rules would add restrictions. Some would clear up vaguely worded guidelines that may have long mystified the law-abiding rider. For example, although riders may not take up more than one seat, the new rules state that they can indeed place a package or bag on an empty seat, if no one else wants it.
And while unauthorized commercial activity is banned, the new rules make it clear that registering voters is permitted. (Think of your civic duty the next time the bus is stalled.)
The president of New York City Transit, Lawrence G. Reuter, said in May that new rules were needed "to enhance safety and security." A spokesman for the agency, Paul J. Fleuranges, would not elaborate on that statement yesterday. "We've said our piece about the rules changes," Mr. Fleuranges said.
An assortment of passengers interviewed on five subway lines said the new rules came as a surprise. Some spoke passionately about their need to rest their weary feet.
"That's ridiculous," Monica Hunken, 23, said of the proposed ban on using seats as footrests.
"I work until 4:30 in the morning, and I put my feet on the seats because I'm tired and there's no one else there," said Ms. Hunken, who works at a bar in the East Village. "It's not harming anyone."
Thomas Perone, 23, an unemployed chef from Brooklyn, rested his size 11½ feet on the end of a row of empty seats as he napped on his way to Manhattan. "I put my feet up all the time," he said after awakening. "As long as nobody needs the seat, it's no big deal."
James Santana, 19, who planted his Timberland boots on a seat on a Q train near Times Square, looked annoyed when he was asked about his posture. "I'm just tired," he said, eyelids drooping. "I work the overnight shift. Sometimes people just like to punch out."
Penalties for violating the Rules of Conduct range from a fine of up to $100 to a jail term of up to 10 days, but some riders questioned the transit agency's ability to monitor passenger behavior. "There are thousands of rules, but nobody to enforce them anymore," said Joe Lieb, 80, a retired transit police officer from Brooklyn.
In addition to codifying subway etiquette, the rules would prohibit the jumping of turnstiles, even by a passenger with a valid fare card who leaps a gate because it has malfunctioned. " 'Turnstile jumping' and related conduct, whatever the stated rationale, create an environment of disorder," the proposed rules state.
Rider advocates have focused their ire on a proposed ban on photography, filming and videotaping on subways, buses and Staten Island Rapid Transit trains. "There are important values in having photographers document life and conditions on the subways and buses," said Neysa C. Pranger, an organizer for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. Journalists with Police Department credentials and people with written authorization from the transit agency would be exempt from the ban.
Members of the public have until Jan. 8 to submit comments on the proposed rules, listed on the Web at www.mta.info/nyct/rules/nyct.htm . The rules will then be subject to a final vote by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent agency of New York City Transit.
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company