BUSTED!

Subject: Re: BUSTED!

sterling2000 wrote: Having a beer tonite on my stoop after Biden's speech...NYPD roll up and bust me for an open container violation for 25 bucks...I was very polite and told the NYPD I was appreciative of their presence given the streetcrime, noise violations, etc...cop riding shotgun in the car was playing Tetris on his iPod the whole time...

Next time, you should be smoking a joint, dry humping your girlfriend and drinking a 40.

They'll drive right by you.

i know this has been talked about, but why, again, can't you have a beer on your own stoop?

does it matter if you own said stoop?

i got woken up in the middle of the night a week or so ago by some new (i assume) beat cops hassling everybody on the block -- the folks on our stoop waiting peacefully for a cab to take them home from a party (standing while not white, i guess), the guy who stands guard on the church steps every night (who is employed by the church). i know they have to learn somehow, but i wish it had been a little less obvious that they didn't believe the church guy until they made him produce all his keys and lock and unlock everything.

i do like seeing cops walking around, and they didn't end up ticketing anyone for being awake at 2am, but it's too bad someone who already knows the neighborhood wasn't with them to introduce them to the church guy as a neighborhood fixture, rather than a suspect.

LAMENESS!

There's nothing more satisfying then having a beer on your stoop.
Sorry you got busted.

Plus side is that you can mail in the $25 without further ado.

In text 10-125 (2):

2. Public place. A place to which the public or a substantial group of
persons has access including, but not limited to, any highway, street,
road, sidewalk, parking area, shopping area, place of amusement,
playground, park or beach located within the city except that the
definition of a public place shall not include those premises duly
licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the
premises or within their own private property. Such public place shall
also include the interior of any stationary motor vehicle which is on
any highway, street, road, parking area, shopping area, playground, park
or beach located within the city.

Before you jump on the private property provision, note the use of commas and see that the clause applies to premises duly licensed, _not_ general private property.

In a mixed, worlds collide, is it OK to sit on someone else's stoop kinda way, it is my opinion that the NYPD considers a stoop "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access," which would make consumption of alcohol illegal there under 10-125. I would tend to agree with this interpretation, but disagree with the code in the first place.

Mamacita wrote: But what if you have a gate around your stoop? Public can't access my stoop without opening the gate.

Honestly, it is up to the fart and fancy of the guy in blue on yer doorstep. My opinion would be that you could certainly argue that a gated stoop prevents access to your stoop from a substantial group of the public, making you A-OK. But that kind of thinking has gotten me locked up before, so don't listen to me.

JAH wrote: From what I understand, supposedly its that you can't be visible from the street or sidewalk which I find to be beyond stupid. We live in a police state. Clearly revolting is futile so either get used to it(which I can't) or go elsewhere(which I am ASAP)

Where are you going?

As far as visible, I suppose it could be argued that _seeing_ something means having access to it, being able to make contact with it. Which is bogus.

sweet tea wrote: i got woken up in the middle of the night a week or so ago by some new (i assume) beat cops hassling everybody on the block -- the folks on our stoop waiting peacefully for a cab to take them home from a party (standing while not white, i guess), the guy who stands guard on the church steps every night (who is employed by the church). i know they have to learn somehow, but i wish it had been a little less obvious that they didn't believe the church guy until they made him produce all his keys and lock and unlock everything.

i do like seeing cops walking around, and they didn't end up ticketing anyone for being awake at 2am, but it's too bad someone who already knows the neighborhood wasn't with them to introduce them to the church guy as a neighborhood fixture, rather than a suspect.

I guess that they're only doing what everyone on the board has been asking for. If they shut down a group of rowdy people drinking on the stoop, then I guess that they have to shut down the non-rowdy people drinking on the stoop. Dunno. Hard line to draw, but it seems to me that some common sense could be used. Less than five people quietly drinking a beer on a private stoop? OK. Ten people spilling onto the sidewalk, smoking, yelling, drinking, loud music. Yeah, time to go inside guys.

This way, however, the NYPD can't be accused of picking on certain people.

Lo Kee wrote: Actually, it is up to a judge. I would fight this.

Ultimately it is up to a judge, of course, and I would consider fighting it as well. That doesn't change you getting a ticket and possibly hauled off, however. Which is a bit of a hassle that some might like to avoid. How much hassle is $25 in the mail worth to you?

Lock yo doors!

bobbybrummel wrote: I knew a guy from Maryland who was busted in Greenpoint for an open container, but no stoop was involved. His apartment door opened right onto the sidewalk, and he was sitting in the doorway. He decided to fight it in court, arguing that he was literally sitting in his own home with the container. He lost when the judge asked to see his drivers license, which did not list Greenpoint as his address, cause it was a Maryland DL! For out of staters: it helps to update that residency, even if it means you'll get called for jury duty instantly!

Seems to me that it wouldn't make any difference where his official address was in the question of whether the driveway was public or private property. What relevancy is it whether it is _his_ private property or not? If it isn't public, it isn't public.

But there I go, questioning the man again.

I wonder if its a line of sight thing. if you were waving your pecker in front of your Juliette balcony glass door on the 2nd floor you could be arrested, obviously if you wave your pecker on your stoop you could be arrested and I bet if you were eating worms with your pecker in your garden apartment with your front door open and your back door open (clear line of sight from the street) you would be arrested. Maybe it has something to do with enticing the public to drink in public or if you want, wave your pecker in public. Obviously restuarants and the like have a license to do that (drink in public not wave their peckers). I have on occasion have had to sigh papers vouching to the high moral character of deli owners of bar owners regarding the application for liquor or pecker waving licenses.

wait, i can't be naked on the second floor?

sterling2000 wrote: I was reading a bit about this online today...there is some opinion that the officer needs to report the actual brand of the alcohol being consumed or it won't hold up in court. The cop actually asked me "What kind of beer are you drinking?" which I thought was odd at the time, but he didn't write vthe brand on the ticket.

I think the fine is higher for imported beer than domestic.

I suspect the roof of a rental building is sorta quasi public space, like a mall. Private property but open to the public at certain times. Normally a roof is not permitted to be used for sunbathing partying, fornicating and the like. However in case of a fire it should be legally accessable to escape. The reason most building owners don't want people on the roof is it voids the roof warrenty. If it's a legal roof deck it needs besides decking, a 4 ft fence or parapet around the entire enclosure plus 2 means of egress (means the fire escape has to be built to the roof) , plus an insurance rider for the same. The only legal roof decks are going to be in coops, high end condos or private residences. Isn't there a google map sight with people lying naked, illegally I might add, on their legal roof decks?

modsquad wrote: Normally a roof is not permitted to be used for sunbathing partying, fornicating and the like.

Wait- I can't fornicate on my own roof?!?! That's it, I'm moving.