The woman who wrote this fully supports my posting it on OTBKB. It’s quite a story.
My husband was IMing and having a beer last night on our stoop after
Biden’s speech…NYPD roll up in a patrol car and busted him for an
open container violation for 25 bucks…he was very polite and told
the NYPD he was appreciative of their presence, but asked asked about
the public/private space concept, and he explained that if I was
behind a fence or gate I would be ok. Since we don’t have a gate, the
set-back from the sidewalk didn’t matter.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
him "What kind of beer are you drinking?" which I thought was odd at
the time, but he didn’t write the brand on the ticket.Anyhow, the cops were polite and my husband was polite and overall
just a goofy story…we’ll probably just write the check for $25 and
mail it in rather than burning up a bunch of time contesting the
thing… thought you all might like to know that you can get busted
for this sort of thing! (oh and apparently you’re not supposed to
leave your seat during God Bless America at Yankees games…. but
that’s another story).
A friend just had a similar experience in Prospect Heights. The cops apologized but told her they were cracking down pre West Indian Parade. Go figure.
Yeah, I think I saw that officer after his shift was over walking out of Farrell’s, carrying a 32-oz foam cup to his car, lifting up the lid and blowing the beer foam onto the sidewalk…
Massive unmitigated hypocrisy.
That is INSANE. It’s just another way for some cops to pretend they’re cleaning up the dirty NYC streets without getting, well, dirty. Or to make the city some fast cash. Either or, I suspect.
About 10 years ago I was ticketed for having a bag of groceries in a seat next to me while on the subway…a subway car that had maybe had 6 people in total. Very nice, very nice.
I realize it’s just $25 but principle is sometimes worth more than money. It does not matter that the person doesn’t have a gate. He was on his own property (whether property should be viewed as “property” – the way we view it here – is a whole other issue but I’m not ‘going there’ right now). it’s ridiculous. but hey if you can get them on not writing the brand down, that’s rich too. (I don’t think this example is why the law is in place. I was in New Orleans recently and loved that you could have a beer on the street!)
It’s actually true – if the officer fails to write the brand of the alcohol on the summons, the summons must be dismissed for facial insufficiency.