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Maybe Hold Off On Watching Porn Until You Leave The Subway?

Ben Yakas

Published Mar 6, 2015

Modified Mar 6, 2015

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Ben Yakas

Published Mar 6, 2015

Modified Mar 6, 2015

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We know there is nothing more erotic than idling on a hot crowded subway platform with hundreds of other disgruntled New Yorkers, breathing in human skin while sensually waiting for a train that may or may not ever come—but maybe you could contain your lust enough to abstain from watching porn in public? We know this is a lot to ask, what with all those trains going in-and-out of tunnels, but maybe you can control your urges enough to wait until you get home? Don't be like Michael Fassbender in Shame. Don't be this guy [NSFW DUH]:

Subway Gazing from Gothamist on Vimeo.

The witness, Sally, told us she took the video last summer while waiting for the G train at Metropolitan Avenue during the evening rush hour. Here is her account, in her own words:

I had been minding my own business when I could not help but notice some big jiggly boobs at the periphery of my visual range. I thought it was pretty brazen of this guy to not only be watching straight up porn in a public space, but to be doing it so conspicuously that anyone standing next to him could also see it. Luckily, that person was me and not a child/nun/anyone with any sort of morals ... but what ever happened to clutching your phone to your chest and surrounding it with cupped hands like a respectful public-space porn-consumer??

Anyway, he did take a break from his film once the train arrived .... and then I stood with his body pressed against mine for 4 stops.

Sally added that this wasn't her first time spotting someone watching porn while traversing the underground: "The guy had a huge duffel bag of DVDs with him, so once he sat down and opened up his [portable] DVD player he popped in a film called "Butts" and started watching," she said. "It was still pretty conspicuous, but at least this particular individual had the decency to sit in the corner and not point his porn at anyone but himself."

It seems like basic decency to say not to porn-watching in public places, but that of course hasn't stopped people from doing it in libraries or operating rooms. And common courtesy hasn't stopped people from tying up their used condoms to subway poles, so who are we kidding, let chaos reign.

We asked the MTA if this kind of behavior broke their code of conduct, and if so, what straphangers could do if they found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with someone watching "Butts:" "It violates the codes of conduct," an MTA spokesperson responded. "Customers are urged to report it to an MTA employee, a police officer, online or by calling 511. The information would be passed to the NYPD's Transit Bureau and would be investigated."

Okay, but we were curious: exactly which Rule Of Conduct does this break? We came up with four possibilities:

Section 1050.6 (use of the transit system) part C5: "No person shall use media devices such as films, slides or videotapes."
Section 1050.2 (definitions) part D: “Sound production device” includes, but is not limited to, any radio receiver, phonograph, television receiver, musical instrument, tape recorder, cassette player, compact disc player, speaker device or system, and any sound amplifier or any sound-producing device of similar nature.
Section 1050.6 (use of the transit system) part C4: "No activity is permitted which creates excessive noise or which emits noise that interferes with transit operations. The emission of any sound in excess of 85 dBA on the A weighted scale measured at five feet from the source of the sound or 70 dBA measured at two feet from a station booth is excessive noise and is prohibited. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the use on subway platforms of amplification devices of any kind, electronic or otherwise, is prohibited."
Section 1050.7 (disorderly conduct) part I: "Conduct himself or herself in any manner which may cause or tend to cause annoyance, alarm or inconvenience to a reasonable person or create a breach of the peace."

So you can't use a phonograph on the subway?!? One really does learn something new everyday.

Tagged

bad habits

dirty commute

Porn

subway

subway etiquette

train

original

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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