Anyone heard of the Street View feature on google maps? Google has cars that take 360 degree photographs from the street, it's a great feature and very useful.

I guess the cops should have stopped the google camera car that went all the way through the tunnel. And through the Lincoln tunnel. And on the NJ turnpike.

Holland Tunnel Street View

Lincoln Tunnel Street View

NJ Turnpike Street View

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So, if I stand on Newark Ave and take a photo of friend, where the turnpike happens to be in the backgroud - that's illegal?

Or, if I am flying into Newark Airport and take a picture of the ground and the turnpike is in the photo, that's illegal?

Or, if I take a photo out of my bedroom window, where I can see the turnpike, that's illegal?

Ridiculous and not true. Cite the law.

Public photography is not a crime. People have the right to photograph whatever they want when they are in a public place (such as a sidewalk or street) unless there is a specific ordinance that prohibits it.

yeah, I saw a guy get yelled at today on the WTC PATH train escalator. Was told "No photography. Put the cameras away." Is it code orange juice or something?

Agree with devbeep...
911 wouldn't have been prevented if photography was banned. Being ok with the banning of photography in public places is exactly why the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amendments of 2008 are being voted upon this week.

It "grants sweeping new monitoring powers to the government with little court oversight" (ACLU.org).

Hope you don't mind every phone call, txt and email to be stored in a database for the government to use.

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devbeep wrote:

It has nothing to do with public safety. Banning photography accomplishes nothing in the war on terror, and you shouldn't be "cool with that".

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How did they catch you? Did they capture your license plate on a surveilance camera somewhere? Were you issued a fine? I have definitely seen 'No Photography' signs on the GWB heading westbound.

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The NJ Turnpike is technically private property, which the TP Authority uses as an excuse to claim that they can ban photography. They cannot. Photos taken anywhere are considered to be the intellectual property of the photographer, regardless of the circumstances in which the photo was taken, and do not have to be shown to the police unless they have PC to make a search of your person.

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It has nothing to do with public safety. Banning photography accomplishes nothing in the war on terror, and you shouldn't be "cool with that".

I recommend you read Bruce Schneier's essay titled "The War on Photography" at: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/the_war_on_phot.html

"The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren't being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn't known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about -- the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 -- no photography."

Taking photos of the NJ Turnpike is also illegal and has been for decades.

I don't know about the details of signs around the tunnel, but ever since 9/11 it is pretty well known in this area that photography is prohibited near all bridges, tunnels, and mass transit. It is the law and the police officer had every right to question you.

You can't take pictures in the train stations either. There are a lot of foreign people entering the country in droves I might add, staying for excessive amount of time. They are given the keys to the city and now they're worried about a few pictures !

A terrorist probably wouldn't be taking pictures will a cell phone camera and Google Earth gives a pretty clear picture of the area but not in real time.

I'm glad that you weren't hassled much but taking pictures at the tolls seems out of the norm.

I hope that signs do not go up reading that it is illegal to photograph toll booths, but understand that it may draw the attention of police. I think that if I were driving by you at the time, I would have felt uneasy.

I don't like that I feel this way.

I got a letter in the mail last year from taking a picture halfway through looking up on the GWB. It told me that it was against the law.

It is the same way at the airports. The police fear that someone may be taking pictures to study the structure for possible weak points in design.

I was walking on Marin by the Holland Tunnel today. I took a photo of the cars entering the toll plaza with my cell phone camera. A port authority cop chirped his electronic horn. He gets out of his parked car and tells me I can't take photographs and he will need to see the picture I took. I said I didn't know it was illegal to take a photo of a public area. He then said it is here. I question where the signs were posted notifying me of this. He then walks around the area for a minute trying to find the sign. There is no sign. He then goes on about 911 and if someone in a car sees a photo being taken and calls it in they have to investigate it. I said anyone can look at google maps street view and see this view right now at any time. So taking a photo isn't going to make a difference. He then says I am free to go and have been this entire time, but continues with the 911 excuse. What bothered me more was when my light turned green along with the walk sign 4 cars kept turning right into the tunnel lane. All of this happened in front of the port authority police car parked in the small employee parking lot next to the toll plaza. Right turns on a red arrow apparently is not illegal, but photography with a cell phone camera is? Well technically not illegal but worth getting out of the car for and wasting two peoples time. The port authority could stop needing to raise tolls/fares if the police just enforced the traffic laws.