Ticketed For Running In Central Park Too Early!

people saying the guy broke the rule so he deserved it just dont get it. have u guys even been to central park?

Thank you JR for that reply to a;lfsdjads! It was hilarious and is the perfect answer to all the idiots who love to use the tautology "rules are rules." I get so sick of people who love to pay homage to rules just because someone made them up at some point in the past. This message board was not started so that we could discuss whether or not the cop who gave the jogger a ticket had the legal right to do so, we are discussing whether the rule should be there in the first place. Additionally, since it is impossible for a law to be written to account for every circumstance of it's enforcement, there is a degree of discretion used by the executive branch of government (the police) to decide when a regulation should be enforced and when it should be ignored. Obviously we are discussion the possibility that the A.M. closing time of CP should be earlier in the morning. This discussion is also pointing out from other peoples testimony, that the rule is selectively enforced already, so why was this one jogger singled out as someone who deserved a ticket? But for all the half wits who have trouble grasping the true issues in this conversation, I guess they can continue to feel important by letting all the adults in the room know that "rules are rules."

Moat people reading this thread arent from NYC. But I am, and can tell you running (or just being) in Central Park during the dark is a dangerous idea. People get attacked, mugged, and worse when the Moon is up at that park. The cops are only keeping people out for their safety. He wasnt ticketed for RUNNING, but ticketed for BEING in the park.

Just got in about 3crunches because of the gut busting laugh

LM wrote:

Ray wrote:

I know I'll get slammed for this, but with a best of 3:58 was he really running in Central Park?

This is LRC. You won't get slammed for this here.

Eh, I don't know about that. My mom, for example, started running when she was 45 when I started. At age 50 she ran a 3:56, and could also run a 20:45 5k. While those will never break any records they're respectable times. This guy's 3:58 isn't going to win any races or break any records, but for him it probably DOES take some training. As long as he's not run-walking the marathon, he's legit.

But back to this situation, I've seen it posted a bunch of places that the park closes at night. I had it in my mind that it was between 1 and 5, not 1 and 6. But it was stupid to ticket him; they just should have told him the park was closed and he needed to run around the perimeter, not inside.

selective enforcement is the issue. this law was probably created as a way of getting around targeting homeless or blacks without being labeled as a racist or a classist. perhaps the police officer was protesting in his/her own way against these type of selective laws. i am sure there have been plenty of innocent people ticketed at this time of day in central park, but those people probably don't have a voice, or good credit history. you want to give beat police the power of discretion? i don't. just put cops in the park at that time and they can protect and serve instead of giving them power of deciding who they think has earned the right to ignore the laws that others have not.

F*cking triathletes...

My question is was this guy required to give ID to the cop? I never run with ID and so in this situation, I would just lie about my name. But would I get booked for not having ID on me?

You may be from NYC, but when's the last time you've been there?? It's not the 80s anymore bud. CP is just as safe at night as anywhere else in the city, which is to say, very.

You only need to carry is to drive. Your name, birthdate, and sometimes address are sufficient to identify yourself. You never need to carry ID for anything other than driving

Agree with this 100%. I've consistently ran in the park at 4-5am, I have never been ticketed. I have only been stopped once and the cop politely told me park is closed late at night (oddly enough this was at "night" at 1-2am).

I think it's ridiculous that this man got ticketed. Some of us have jobs that require working very long hours, starting very early in the morning. He said that's the only way he can get his run in for the day and I am sure many working Americans can relate. He probably has to go to dinner with clients, wants to see his girl/boyfriend, children, etc. at night which means that he may not be able to run at night. The only way to be 10% sure you're getting your run in is if you do it in the morning.

Further, if you live in Manhattan you know there are not many options in terms of running paths. Sure, you can do the west side highway, you can do the river on the East side too, but one naturally gravitates to central park. The other options are just running in the streets, which is really unpleasant (at least IMO it is).

This isn't the 80's anymore. The Central Park Jogger case was an absolute travesty to the city, but they responded. I see police drive by in their "carts" pretty consistently at that hour and like previous posters said, they don't really do anything to the runners. They are obviously there to help stop any potential crime in the park.

Other than police, the only other people I've seen at that time are...you guessed it, runners.

If I ever get ticketed I will laugh at that policeman/woman and say "see you tomorrow morning" (OK I probably wouldn't say that, but it wouldn't stop me from running there the next morning). A ticket is not going to stop me from getting my run in.

I definitely understand if you have divergent rules but put yourself in this man's shoes. Not many options in terms of where to run, he obviously doesn't want to run 10 miles every day on a treadmill (who would), and he is unbelievably busy. He's not purposely trying to break a rule, he's just doing what every one of you like to do, and that is enjoy a run.

Park closure rule is a stop and frisk law but the police need to issue tickets and fines to give it gravitas.

When I lived in NYC near Central Park, I occasionally ran in the park after 1:00 a.m. to decompress from an intense corporate law job. One warm spring night the day after the onset of daylight savings time, I was stopped on the west side near the reservoir and given a summons at 1:30 a.m. Being in the park between 1:00-6:00 a.m. is not a civil violation, but instead a misdemeanor with a potential jail sentence up to 90 days. I was lucky to be running with my ID because, if not, I think it was likely that I would have been arrested and hauled into jail. My guess is that the police officer gave me the summons because he had a quota to meet; this was certainly not exceptional if one has followed the various stories (and lawsuits) that have disseminated about the department's practices the last 15 years. In any event, even with a curmudgeonly judge who didn't understand why a practicing lawyer would not want to agree to disorderly conduct (a violation, but something that would need to be disclosed on security checks) in lieu of a misdemeanor, I managed to get off with some violation of an obscure health law provision.

Yes, it is dangerous to run in Central Park at night. The possibility of being charged with a crime is one aspect of the danger.

Well, it isn't called "the land of the free" for no reason!

I'm sorry, but I thought about that a second time, and I find this really disturbing!

I mean, you arnen't allowed to run? And then people are wondering why americans are so fat?

This guy does something good! It is AN ACCOMPLISHMENT to get up early and do your workout!

And you actually do support a police that gives a penalty to people who are at the wrong place at the wrong time?

I mean, that's what Hitler did in his early days, and i would be EXTREMELY uncomfortable if there were people like that anywhere near me.

The park is technically closed 1am - 6am but if you are in the park anytime from 4:30am - 6am you see a lot of runners and cyclists. As others have said this is NYC and this is the only time they can get their run in. It is odd they ticketed one person when there are literally 100s of others excerising at the park during these times especially in the summer.

I run in the park every morning and I happen to see Mary Wittenberg in the park every morning and she is always putting in her miles 5:30am - 6am in the morning. CEO of NYRR and she is in the park when it is technically closed. There are several running groups and cycling groups that are consistently in the park during these hours.

I understand why the closure is technically there but people who are exercising should be the least of the NYPDs concern.

This guy will bring a multi-billion dollar lawsuit when he gets raped in the park. He will always be complaining.

Is there any reason you guys getting tickets don't just run away? Would it really be that hard?