Now, with traffic so inordinately bad, one can be killed while crossing with the light. It happened to me that a car swerved almost directly into me and stopped on a dime when I crossed with the light and this terrible driver took a left turn on Broadway to go downtown as I was crossing in the upper nineties. A young child was killed on 96th and Broadway while holding his father's hand and crossing with the light. It's much worse than it used to be lo, so many years ago, now.
2
In my small town (population ~6500) we have THREE pedestrian crossings, very visibly marked with black/yellow squares on our one main street and flashing lights on the curb. Press the button, the lights flash, and you're good to go.
But then again, our main street is US Hwy 101 and tourists (summertime especially) are often unsure of the pedestrian concept...
1
When I moved here from NYC environs decades ago, Seattle had strict jaywalking laws. People told me that even if there were no cars coming, I was to stay on the curb and wait until the walk signal flashed green and crossing in the middle of the block was especially verboten. I thought they were joking--did anyone really ever get jaywalking tickets? Turns out they did--and for decades. Not only was there a hefty fine--but folks had to go to what we "euphemistically" referred to as "Walking School." It really kept the streets and intersections clear of pedestrians when they weren't supposed to be safely there. There were stories and pictures of pedestrians waiting for the green Walk sign at totally empty intersections at all hours of the day.
Early this decade, i was downtown and noticed folks jaywalking right in front of the Seattle Police. Concerned and upset, I went over to the officers and asked them why they weren't giving out jaywalking tickets or at least, warnings. What was going on? The all proceeded to avoid me and not answer my questions. After asking around, I learned that the Seattle Police don't really give out jaywalking tickets any more. Why? Conventioneers and tourists (read: lots of money for this state that relies on sales tax revenue as we have no income tax) were complaining about getting jaywalking tickets and taking their business elsewhere.
Intersections are a mess now that jaywalking is accepted as the norm. There is a non-financial cost to this.
4
"The NYPD has doled out an average of 450 jaywalking summonses per year since 2008, even excluding a well-publicized crackdown in 2014 when nearly 2,000 were issued in the wake of a series of deadly pedestrian accidents."
- Village Voice
3
No, Alan, you did not create a New York City precedent. In the 1950s a friend of my mother was ticketed for jaywalking on 149th and Third Ave near the Hub.
2
Jaywalking is a very New York thing to do. In a city where pedestrians are the lowest in the pecking order, it is only natural that we take what we can get, where we can get it. Neither cars nor bicycles yield to pedestrians, even though they should. Turning cars and cyclists riding on sidewalks, zipping through red lights are a major reason to be hyper-vigilant.
The situation is different in other cities and countries. Cars stop when a pedestrian steps into the crosswalk. It is delightful, and there is no need to jaywalk, you know that you will be able to cross without concern.
***Amsterdam is the exception to that rule. There, cyclists are in charge, and you had better get out of the way in a hurry!
4
On my first visit to Minneapolis in the 1980s, coming from Greater Boston, I was met by my host, who led me to the garage where her car was parked. It was across the street from the terminal, and there was constant traffic. She nonetheless stepped briskly off the curb and into the striped area of pavement -- I cried to her in alarm, and she turned back and looked at me as if I had two heads. She said, "It's a crosswalk!" And sure enough, all the cars politely stopped at once. I was amazed. I think I still am.
1
now just imagine if you were black and stopped and frisked or beaten by the police or held against your will or placed in rikers for months (or years) for not breaking the law but merely because of your skin color or accent...something always curious about white people who assume the rules do not apply to them, consider yourself lucky
10
Just curious: two commenters have mentioned that the writer had the ticket reproduced on a T-shirt. I see that nowhere in the story. Where is it?
1
I noticed the same thing.
I think they are talking about the tee shirt a commenter below had made after getting a ticket riding his bike on the sidewalk. See Robin Cunningham's comment below.
It was just your bad luck to encounter a young policeman. No one is more officious and nitpicking than a rookie cop or a second lieutenant. Every New York pedestrian knows a red light light is more a suggestion than an order, and that jaywalking is what you do, all the while exercising common sense about when to cross. How many pedestrians die in Manhattan traffic? I never see or hear anything in the news about it. Good for you, sir, in having the ticket reproduced on your t-shirt!
6
Beg pardon. I should have written "How many jaywalking pedestrians die in Manhattan traffic." The poor pedestrians killed when that terrorist plowed into a crowd on the sidewalk weren't jaywalking.
I was once also ticketed for "J"-walking.
I was smoklng a "J" on 6th Avenue when I was stopped.
Maybe it was the same cop.
8
Ha ha.
3
I got used to looking both ways when I (??!!) jaywalk - one for safety. one for police!
6
No you’re not- many years ago my aunt was given a ticket for jaywalking. We all had a good laugh.
You’re in a privileged club!
6
Are you black? Was the officer white? Just curious.
1
I took two female German visitors to midtown earlier this summer. Empire State Building, up to times Square etc. Every single time we reached a street corner, they stopped and waited for the light, often on a side street with no one coming.
If I walked ahead, they waited until I returned. Some pedestrians turned their heads to look at us, wondering if there was some kind of problem. It did not dawn on them that we were waiting for the light to change on the corner of a small one-way street with no cars in sight. We barely made it back to the PATH train/Newark airport on time.
There are people who just do things because there is a rule, regardless. And there are urban folks who realize that you it will take forever to get from point A to point B if you studiously obey every rule.
13
But if you studiously obey every rule, you will get from point A to point B.
2
But npt nearly fast enough, which I think is Billy's point.
Fun story. $2 might have been a decent chunk of change for a high school kid in 1970. Hope you had the ticket dismissed.
The last sentence, I realize, is meant to be humorous. The actual number of jaywalking summonses in NYC averaged around 450 a year between 2008 - 2013, according to the Village Voice, but jumped manyfold under "Vision Zero" plan crackdown in 2014.
That compares to only a handful of jaywalking tickets in, say, Boston and Philly, but tens of thousands in LA every year.
5
Personally, I feel jaywalking should be enforced more in NYC rather than less as it is pretty much everywhere else. Also, the fine shouldn't be some slap on the wrist. Doing it like that only encourages more do it, because so many will think that if they get caught, it won't affect them that much. Had it been done the way it is everywhere else, I betcha jaywalking would be down. If I'm supposed to follow the rules when I drive, others should when they walk. For the record, I always wait for the walk signal whenever I'm walking in the city, because I don't want to run the risk of getting hit by a vehicle coming at me as well as by a bicycle, though I feel that they will run the red light anyway. On a side note, I find Vision Zero to be more of selective punishment because it holds motorists to such a high standard while ignoring the fact that pedestrians and cyclists have their own share of flouting laws as well. The truth is that if you really want safe streets, then all groups need to follow the rules, not just one in particular only. Unfortunately, those anti-car fanatics and bike zealots over on places such as Streetsblog and Transportation Alternatives have a history of crying foul whenever there is a call to enforce the rules on them even though they tend to want strict enforcement on anyone who drives and believe that they should be given fines so high that they couldn't even afford anything else, which really puts them in a double standard here.
3
I agree that pedestrians should be careful, but a reckless driver can affect many more lives than a reckless pedestrian.
9
Even though your statement about reckless drivers is true, that still doesn't justify pedestrians who jaywalk, which actually does place them into harm's way.
1
Two bucks isn't a bad price to pay for a lesson in safety and a great story to tell!
3
I was 15 in New York in 1970. Two dollars in 1970 was a lot of money.
7
Cherish that ticket. I am glad nothing more serious happened during your encounter with the officer. I was stopped when I was 70 for riding my bike on the sidewalk as I left Riverside Park. I too was incredulous when I was told by the officer that I had broken the law. The ticket was dismissed and I got much fun out of telling the story. I also had the ticket put on a tee shirt. Many drivers notice it when I wear it. The unmistakable pink of the citation is quite striking.
16
Robin Cunningham, as someone older than you (at the time of your tale) who walks for exercise along Riverside Drive and is often terrorized by people riding bikes either along or across the sidewalk, I don't find anything remotely amusing about your tale. It is against the law to ride on the sidewalk and extremely dangerous for us walkers. We are not immobile trees. BTW, our son once rode a few feet on a deserted sidewalk for safety reasons at a congested intersection and received a ticket that required his appearing in court at a specific time in addition to the fine. The double standard is also not amusing.
13
You were incredulous when you were told by the officer that you had broken the law? Really? Everybody knows adults are not supposed to ride bicycles on the sidewalk!
10
Is sidewalk bike riding really illegal everywhere? In my Town, it's illegal in commercial districts (which are established by our zoning) but not in other areas.
My wife is a native New Yorker. She frequently jaywalks. She rarely presses the button for the walk light when she is at a crosswalk. She always gets to where she is going. And she’s never been given a ticket for jaywalking.
So yes, Alan, you might be the only person in NYC to have received a ticket for that offense. I assume that it was your first and last. And you were only 15 years old!
Thanks for your story.
16
I don't think those buttons actually work. Just decorative providers of false hope.
14
I have always believed that those buttons are put there to keep you occupied while you wait for the light to change.
4