Originally Posted by
jcerovac
I've never been stopped or question in an airport, but I was detained in the Port Authority bus terminal in NYC once. The officers were not mean or bossy, and were responding to a call from a shopkeeper about a "suspicious man with a camera". I had setup a tripod and was framing a sculpture against the movement of the people in the background.
While I'm glad that you eventually got your shot, your willingness to "cooperate," show ID, got to the precinct, etc. was your choice. You were doing nothing illegal and they had not reason to harass you in that way or to make you do any of those things. They also had no cause to arrest you if they wanted to. You played in to their hands and underwent the additional steps because you were willing to do so.
One of the Federal buildings downtown in NYC has cool purple/green benches out in front of it (
link). I like taking pictures of them. I've been harassed about it several times, but always tell the people who approach me to buzz off as I am doing nothing illegal and that unless they intend to arrest me they're getting in my way. One time the woman stayed there watching me for about an hour on a cold December afternoon (and I had a decent jacket but she didn't), but I did not comply with their unreasonable requests and still got my shot.