Carl Johnson

I was at JFK T4 yesterday, and there was a pretty big line. I was going through the Sky Priority/Übermenschen lane and so had lots of time and I decided to take some pictures of the big line for regular passengers and the basically walk-up experience for privileged passengers. A couple soldiers were around there and one of them told me "Sir, you can't take pictures of the checkpoint" and with my Flyertalk trained confidence I responded "Can", and he said (pointing) "You can't take pictures in that direction" and I again responded "Can". They went away.

Who were these people? Were they passengers? They had radio handsets embedded in their uniforms and it looked like they were working. Are there soldiers patrolling around the JFK terminal? If yes, why? And why don't they teach them the rules? Or did they just assign them there so they could learn the rules from passengers? The next thing I would have done would have been to get them to summon the TSM.

Anyway, it was a good experience. It was really irritating though to see this long line for some people and this vast overallocation of government resources to "privileged" people like myself. I did have one more good experience, though - I told the lady in front of me to keep her shoes on.

stifle

Aren't there local ordnances that apply to photography at JFK?

Carl Johnson

From here:

http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/media-access.html

Well, the TSA does consent. So.

STBCypriot

Hey, did you see me there? I got the full treatment because I refused to play the name game and I opted out of the NoS. The lines were really long and (apologies) I'm afraid I contributed to the long line situation.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Somewhere there is a long thread on photography at PANYNJ. What I have always found odd about the above link is that it pertains to the media and not the general public.

mbwmbw

Epic. Nice work guys.

KCK

Carl,

Are you sure they were soldiers and not police in tactical uniforms?

lobster7

So you acted like a four year old?

cynicAAl

well....they started it...

Carl Johnson

No I'm not; this is the first time I've seen anything like this. I'm trying to get information so I can figure this out. Additional information: they had very short hair like soldiers and they were young. Also, they were not obnoxious - a big difference from the way PANY/NJ police typically behave in situations like this. But no, I'm not sure they were soldiers rather than police dressed up in soldier costumes, and am hoping that people who know more about this than I do will chime in.

That isn't really descriptive. What do you mean by "like a four year old"? How should I have responded to people who told me that photography was prohibited when I knew it was permitted? How many words should I have used, considering that the one word "Can" was enough to make them back down and go away?

If we are going to use the "four year old" analogy, I would characterize my feelings as like those of an exasperated parent of a four year old.

N965VJ

I've escalated things to the point of LEOs, TSMs or the FSD being summoned, but I've never held held up the line. People go through the checkpoint at the same rate behind me, IME.


Excellent work, sir! ^


I don't have an issue with elite lines. Airport checkpoints should be in control of the airlines, with FAA oversight. If an airline decides that elite access is of value to it's customers (and it certainly is to me), then so be it. That the checkpoints are presently being run by the government, with government employees, is an anomaly that is be corrected.


If pushing back against government authority figures that make up their own rules is acting like a four year old, there is indeed hope for the future generation.

javabytes

Seems to me he acted like a grown man.

Caradoc

It's been my experience that in speaking to any airport-assigned law enforcement, or Federal employees like the TSA at the airport, short words and short sentences are most likely to be understood.

If you use words of three or four syllables, they get angry because they're incapable of understanding the conversation.

They get even more upset if you use their own three-letter acronyms and jargon in any conversation with them. Understanding and using their "cant" indicates someone who isn't a sheep heading down the chute to shearing.

Pesky Monkey

That stood up for his constitutional rights.

yandosan

Carl,

I had a similar experience in Puerto Rico, at he airport.
A TSA guy told me it was unlawful to photograph the checkpoint
but I said "It's my right."
Two undercover women approached me and ripped the camera from my hands and deleted images. TSA soon issued a statement that it was not TSA, but no one ever came forward to say "it was us."
You can find the story if you google the keywords "TSA Confiscates camera."
I think the bottom line is it's easier to circumvent the law if you use agents who cannot be identified. This is a disturbing new trend in America.
Check out Jeff Gray (honoryouroath) videos on youtube. He keeps
running into "deep cover" goons in Florida who say they can't be photographed.