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New York Sign Language

NY Mayor Gives Jaywalkers Red Light

By BOB YAMPOLSKY


市長が厳重に取り締まる'犯罪'行為とは?

ニューヨークでは、信号を無視しての道路横断は日常茶飯事です。しかし、先日、市長が歩行者の信号無視を厳重に取り締まる方針を打ち出しました。2月の末には、ある女性が信号無視の道路横断を理由に交通違反の切符を切られ、マスコミをにぎわしました。果たしてニューヨーカーの歩行マナーは改善されるのでしょうか?

One of the most widely reported criminal acts in New York this winter occurred on an afternoon in late February, when a woman named Brenda Barnes ignored our sign for this month and crossed Sixth Avenue at 50th Street. Her crime, in other words, was jaywalking.

As we discussed in this column last year, virtually every able-bodied New Yorker jaywalks. Jaywalking is a part of our culture, and to enforce the law against it would make criminals of us all. This is why, when Ms. Barnes was ticketed, this most innocuous of crimes was given more press coverage (interviews with the accused, re-enactments of the crime, editorials) than most of the murders, robberies and corruption cases that occurred around the same time.

Be that as it may, the ticketing of Ms. Barnes should not have come as a total surprise. A week or so earlier, our mayor, Rudolph Guiliani, had announced a crackdown on jaywalking. But it was such a ridiculous notion being ticketed for jaywalking that New Yorkers did not take it at all seriously. Newspapers and news shows ran light, amusing stories about how the crackdown was being ignored by pedestrians and police officers alike.

In fact, on that fateful afternoon in February, a police officer was being interviewed by a reporter from The New York Times who was asking such questions as: "How many tickets have you given for jaywalking?" and "Why aren't you giving a ticket to those people jaywalking right now?" It was at this moment that the criminal, Ms. Barnes, arrived on the scene (she was coming from the department store Saks Fifth Avenue, where she had had a manicure). The rest, as they say, is history.

The mayor's crackdown on jaywalking came right after another controversial decision, which was to put up pedestrian barricades at some of the busiest midtown intersections. These barricades stop pedestrians from using certain crosswalks and thus help the flow of traffic, since cars no longer have to wait for the pedestrians to cross the street before making a left turn. This is good for cars, but terrible for pedestrians.

Say, for example, you were (as Ms. Barnes was) on the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 50th Street and you wanted to cross to the northwest corner. First you would have to cross 50th Street to the southeast corner, then cross Sixth Avenue to the southwest corner, and then cross 50th again to the northwest corner. In other words, you'd have to cross three streets instead of just one.

Almost everyone agreed that this was a lousy idea, and criticism of the mayor was sharp and swift. Our mayor does not appreciate criticism and he responded by stiffening his stand: The barricades would stay, and the jaywalking law would be enforced.

The other day I went down to the scene of Ms. Barnes' crime. The barricades were indeed up and, because there was a police officer stationed behind each one, pedestrians were, for the most part, obeying the NO PED. CROSSING signs. I asked a policeman how many tickets he had written. "None," he said. I asked him what he thought about the crackdown on jaywalking.

"It sucks," he said. "The pedestrians don't like it, the cops don't like it. The only one who likes it is the mayor." He added that he would go crazy if he had to do this every day.

It will be interesting to see how all this pans out. The mayor, who does not back down often, seems determined both to keep the barricades and to change New York street culture so that jaywalking is eliminated. I wouldn't be surprised if the barricades stay a while — after all, they're just in a few select spots — but I find it impossible to believe that New Yorkers will actually stop jaywalking. About the only way this could happen, I think, is if every police officer actually gave a ticket to every jaywalker he saw.

The other night I was standing at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street. The light was red and no cars were coming. In normal circumstances I would have walked across the street without hesitation, but at my side were two police officers waiting for the light, too. It was frustrating, because it was late and I wanted to catch the subway, and for a lifelong New Yorker like me nothing makes me feel more stupid than waiting at the curb just because the light is red. Fortunately, the police officers didn't feel like waiting, either. They started across and I followed them, reaching the other side of the street just as the light turned green.


Shukan ST: March 27, 1998

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