capitalismmag: The War on Art Historians
Capitalism Magazine reports on an art historian detained by New York police after he attempted to photograph a public statue. Even after police determined he was not a terrorist threat, he was prevented from taking photographs of the statue, located near the Triborough Bridge.
Three weeks ago, Lee was setting up his camera to photograph Discus Thrower, by Costas Dimitriadis (pictured right, photo credit: Lee Sandstead), a sculpture installed in 1926 on Randall's Island at the Eastern end of New York's Triborough Bridge. As he was taking the first shot, Lee heard a stern voice commanding him to "Stand away from the camera" -- in the same tone that a bank robber would be instructed to put down his weapon and come out with his hands up. New York City transportation police then detained him for 45 minutes while they ran his name through the FBI database. It should be no surprise that the blond-haired, blue-eyed Tennessee native did not show up on any watch-lists for Muslim terrorists. This harassment by the police might be forgivable, as an overzealous precaution, except for one thing. When Lee's name was cleared, he asked the police if he could continue taking photos of the sculpture. He was told that all photography in the area was prohibited, and when we checked later, we discovered that there was no process by which one can get permission to take photographs of the sculpture. (see www.capitalismmagazine.com)