Cops Finally Going After the Real Criminals
Hey, maybe those tourist-halting pedestrian traffic-impeding ground compasses will be a blessing in disguise if the NYPD keeps arresting dudes who stand around blocking the sidewalk. Maybe this is all a complicated sting operation!
According to the Times, "Matthew Jones of Brooklyn lingered on the corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in the early morning of June 12, 2004, gabbing with friends as other pedestrians tried to get by," and then a HERO COP arrested him for "disorderly conduct."
Jones tried to get the charge dropped, then he pleaded guilty, and now he's trying to overturn his conviction (just like Larry Craig). So far, the Court of Appeals seems receptive to his argument, which is basically that everyone else does it, though we see no reason why they shouldn't also arrest everyone else in Times Square. As Nick Confessore describes them:
Just before 5 p.m., near the corner where Mr. Jones was arrested, stood the following assemblage: a man eating clams out of a Styrofoam container; two men smoking cigarettes together; a man waiting for a woman to finish a phone call; a guy looking at a map; a young woman sending a text message; two men handing out tour brochures; and a family of five, including an infant in a stroller, who stopped to look at the brochures.
LOCK 'EM ALL UP.
