Safe for old guy with new camera? Platforms? Trains? Where? When?

[PhilFromCA]

Seeking information and advice about safety on trains and platforms while a new camera to take photos. 

By way of introduction I am a born and raised NYer, and commuted by (bus and) subway to high school in The Bronx and then college in Manhattan, plus summer jobs in Manhattan.  At the time, I carried around an old 35 mm Kodak Signet and shot lots of bulk-loaded black and white.  I regularly rode Lo-Vs, Standards, D Types, R1-9s, plus post WW II R types.  I rode all over the system for the hobby. 

If it matters, I have been a member of the ERA for many years now.  I still do monthly zoom meetings with two high school buddies who are also fans.

After college graduation I moved away from NY for job reasons.  I have been to NY a whole bunch of times in recent years, a lot of business trips, and rode the subway in Manhattan with some trips out to Queens, but carrying a laptop in a bag, rather than camera gear.  On some of these trips, I managed to attend ERA meetings, when they were still in the Roosevelt Hotel.  Now I attend most of the meetings via Zoom.

We expect to be in NY probably in January, and I want to really do a lot of NYCT riding and photography.  I have this new "mirrorless" camera from a well-known brand.  My wife is concerned that me being older and looking my age, that I will be a target for thieves in a way that a younger person might not.  In any case, I am completely out of touch with questions like, "are there any times of day (not just midnight hours) that I should not ride around of photograph with my new camera?"   And, "are there any neighborhoods or lines that are relatively high-crime?"  Any other advice or pointers?

I just discovered this site, and I hope to visit often.

Phil

 

[IAlam]

Just stay away from any angry employees, people, or cops, and leave if they tell you to, otherwise, you're probably fine.

Also if someone tries to escalate the fact you're taking pictures here's the rule that says you can take pictures it's 1050.9-c.

Since there are always tourists and railfans taking pictures I highly doubt you encounter anything, just use common sense if it looks sketchy stay away.

[Chris89292]

16 hours ago, PhilFromCA said:

Seeking information and advice about safety on trains and platforms while a new camera to take photos. 

By way of introduction I am a born and raised NYer, and commuted by (bus and) subway to high school in The Bronx and then college in Manhattan, plus summer jobs in Manhattan.  At the time, I carried around an old 35 mm Kodak Signet and shot lots of bulk-loaded black and white.  I regularly rode Lo-Vs, Standards, D Types, R1-9s, plus post WW II R types.  I rode all over the system for the hobby. 

If it matters, I have been a member of the ERA for many years now.  I still do monthly zoom meetings with two high school buddies who are also fans.

After college graduation I moved away from NY for job reasons.  I have been to NY a whole bunch of times in recent years, a lot of business trips, and rode the subway in Manhattan with some trips out to Queens, but carrying a laptop in a bag, rather than camera gear.  On some of these trips, I managed to attend ERA meetings, when they were still in the Roosevelt Hotel.  Now I attend most of the meetings via Zoom.

We expect to be in NY probably in January, and I want to really do a lot of NYCT riding and photography.  I have this new "mirrorless" camera from a well-known brand.  My wife is concerned that me being older and looking my age, that I will be a target for thieves in a way that a younger person might not.  In any case, I am completely out of touch with questions like, "are there any times of day (not just midnight hours) that I should not ride around of photograph with my new camera?"   And, "are there any neighborhoods or lines that are relatively high-crime?"  Any other advice or pointers?

I just discovered this site, and I hope to visit often.

Phil

 

The most obvious neighborhood with high crime is Brownsville Brooklyn, where the  and  run over, another area that I find very sketchy is east Harlem, served by the , between 125th and 110th street stations, there’s always some crazy stuff happening, for Queens, that’ll be the neighborhood of Jamaica, mainly parson archer on the  

[PhilFromCA]

7 hours ago, Chris89292 said:

The most obvious neighborhood with high crime is Brownsville Brooklyn, where the  and  run over, another area that I find very sketchy is east Harlem, served by the , between 125th and 110th street stations, there’s always some crazy stuff happening, for Queens, that’ll be the neighborhood of Jamaica, mainly parson archer on the  

Thanks.  Nothing in The Bronx?

[zacster]

A couple of years ago now I went around the city on my bike and photographed all of the abandoned el structures of the subway. This included East New York, the South Bronx, Queens,  Bed Stuy, Brownsville.  I didn’t give it a thought. The city is not the crime ridden place it was back in the seventies.   Go out and enjoy. 

[RailBus63]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:03 PM, PhilFromCA said:

Thanks.  Nothing in The Bronx?

I've photographed on the Bronx elevated lines with a DSLR without issue. Generally speaking, be aware of your surroundings and try to stay in areas around other people, preferably with some way of avoiding any sketchy looking people if they start to take interest in what you're doing (in other words, don't get trapped by yourself out at the end of a platform with no exit that way).

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

On 12/22/2023 at 8:16 PM, PhilFromCA said:

I have been a member of the ERA for many years now.

 I am completely out of touch with questions like, "are there any times of day (not just midnight hours) that I should not ride around of photograph with my new camera?"   And, "are there any neighborhoods or lines that are relatively high-crime?"  Any other advice or pointers?

I just discovered this site, and I hope to visit often.

Phil

 

First off welcome Phil.

What's the ERA you're referring to?

As for the camera question, I honestly excersize a level of caution with my camera and phone wherever I go. being especially wary of photographing other people mainly. These incidients aint just restricted to high crime areas.... I will also look away from my camera and check the platform at points to make sure nothing insane is going on. As long as you have everything on you and dont get in the way with where commuters are going, you will likely be fine in most corners of the city. Of course in some areas you have to use extra caution (what Chris said)....

I've never actually had someone come up to me and tell me to stop filming, but an MTA worker has yelled that to me across the platform. Even though I was in the right, its not a case where I'm about to start a yelling match over some train pics. I just finished taking my pics, put away my camera, and fled the scene. Its all about judgement really

[PhilFromCA]

10 hours ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

First off welcome Phil.

What's the ERA you're referring to?

 

 

 

As for the camera question, I honestly excersize a level of caution with my camera and phone wherever I go. being especially wary of photographing other people mainly. These incidients aint just restricted to high crime areas.... I will also look away from my camera and check the platform at points to make sure nothing insane is going on. As long as you have everything on you and dont get in the way with where commuters are going, you will likely be fine in most corners of the city. Of course in some areas you have to use extra caution (what Chris said)....

I've never actually had someone come up to me and tell me to stop filming, but an MTA worker has yelled that to me across the platform. Even though I was in the right, its not a case where I'm about to start a yelling match over some train pics. I just finished taking my pics, put away my camera, and fled the scene. Its all about judgement really

Electric Railroaders Association.  www.erausa.org.  Check it out.  They have monthly meetings now on zoom.  Good programs.

I have had LIRR engineers yell at me when I was photographing at Penn Station, but never any problems on NYCT property, even in sight of police officers.  I was careful to stay out of the way of people moving to and from trains.

 

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:26 PM, PhilFromCA said:

Electric Railroaders Association.  www.erausa.org.  Check it out.  They have monthly meetings now on zoom.  Good programs.

I have had LIRR engineers yell at me when I was photographing at Penn Station, but never any problems on NYCT property, even in sight of police officers.  I was careful to stay out of the way of people moving to and from trains.

 

Ah. I dont know why, but since you're from California, I assumed that "ERA" referred to some mythical city over there that I wasn't aware of 

And Yeah, for whatever reason, LIRR fanning tends to be more risky than on the subway.  Obviously most employees are good but then unfortunately you have ones like these too.

[PhilFromCA]

Sorry for the super-late reply.  I had to postpone my trip due to circumstances out of my control, and had to focus on those issues.  (all is OK now)

The ERA is the Electric Railroaders' Association, www.erausa.org.  Monthly programs now on Zoom.  Pre-pandemic, monthly meetings were in Manhattan.

If an LIRR employee flips me off, that is OK, unless he also calls the police.  Once on WMATA, the train operator told me to stop taking photos, even though I had a printout from the WMATA general manager saying that it was OK to take photos from public areas.  She said she didn't care and was going to call the police anyway.  I was on my way to meet my wife, so I didn't argue the point.

If anyone sees me as an easy mark for a mugging, that is NOT OK.

[IAlam]

On 12/29/2023 at 6:31 PM, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Ah. I dont know why, but since you're from California, I assumed that "ERA" referred to some mythical city over there that I wasn't aware of 

And Yeah, for whatever reason, LIRR fanning tends to be more risky than on the subway.  Obviously most employees are good but then unfortunately you have ones like these too.

That's my all-time favorite conductor right there 

23 hours ago, PhilFromCA said:

Sorry for the super-late reply.  I had to postpone my trip due to circumstances out of my control, and had to focus on those issues.  (all is OK now)

The ERA is the Electric Railroaders' Association, www.erausa.org.  Monthly programs now on Zoom.  Pre-pandemic, monthly meetings were in Manhattan.

If an LIRR employee flips me off, that is OK, unless he also calls the police.  Once on WMATA, the train operator told me to stop taking photos, even though I had a printout from the WMATA general manager saying that it was OK to take photos from public areas.  She said she didn't care and was going to call the police anyway.  I was on my way to meet my wife, so I didn't argue the point.

If anyone sees me as an easy mark for a mugging, that is NOT OK.

There there a link or something you have for this? I find myself in DC quite a bit and that would be useful just in case.

[MHV9218]

On 12/23/2023 at 8:03 PM, PhilFromCA said:

Thanks.  Nothing in The Bronx?

I would not recommend flashing an expensive camera in the South Bronx, particularly around Mott Haven, any of those underground stations. The elevated lines are almost all fine, particularly in broad daylight, and the 1 and 6 are probably the calmest of all, with the 2, 4, and 5 behind that. As others have said, East New York/Brownsville is definitely not an ideal tourism spot, but at this point in NYC, almost everywhere is safe during the daytime. I think your wife's point is generally right – thieves do tend to profile based on age, clothing, etc. – but the risks are not anywhere near what they used to be.