This information was originally published in the WORD, Â but a student – Gresham Gregory who does reviews for the WORD and is involved in all manner of multimedia – insisted that the message needed to be disseminated on a grander scale. So, it was posted on Hunter listservs and now here. Also, I realized because of Gregory, that this info could be important for those students [of all ages] coming to the Big Apple with their cameras. At the bottom of this message, are important links.
Briefly:
 “Under the new rules, which the City negotiated with the NYCLU, anyone with a handheld camera or a tripod is free to film on city sidewalks for as long as they please without a permit so long as they don’t establish a physical perimeter around or direct passersby away from more than half of a sidewalk, according to rules released by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcast. The rules expressly state that photographers and filmmakers who are simply standing on city sidewalks with cameras and tripods need no permit and no insurance. The rules also expressly state that no permit is required for photography and filming of parades, rallies, protests and demonstrations.”
For the Hunter listservs, I also added the following because of a nasty incident with the NYPD about a year ago when I was chased, illegally, out of the 68th Street subway station as I was collecting footage for a project, and based on a nastier incident involving a Hunter student two years ago (not at the 68th Street station, near her home in Brooklyn): I am usually tactfully tempered when engaging cops – I learned this as a reporter working at several news publications and from the experience of a friend mowed down by a cop (not in NYC) – so I carry the rules. I also carry notebook and pen to – “politely” – record badges, names and witnesses when they ignore the rules.
Tags: Hunter College, journalism, journalism education, NYC Tourists, NYCLU, NYPD