Peter Shankman, the founder of a social media marketing firm and a big shot in tech-TED circles, was partway through a 10-mile run on Thursday at 4:30 a.m. when a police officer pulled up beside him and issued him a ticket. The park doesn’t open until 6 a.m.
Shankman was aghast, as he explained on his Facebook page.
“At 4:30 this morning in Central Park, at mile 2 of my ten mile run, I was stopped by the police and given a summons for exercising in the park “before it opened.” Apparently, Central Park doesn’t “open” until 6am, and my exercising (running) in the park before 6am is illegal. Note – Running in the park. Not “performing sex acts for crack,” or “laying down explosive charges,” but “running.” Because apparently, a 215 pound man running through Central Park at just over a 9:10 pace is a threat to Manhattan.
To answer the question of why I was running so early – I needed to do ten miles today as part of Ironman training. If I didn’t start that early, I wouldn’t be done before my first meeting of the day.
A “hey, buddy, the park doesn’t open until six, you need to run on the sidewalk outside” from the police officer wouldn’t have sufficed? Apparently not, since he made it clear that his boss was in the car with him, so he had to write me up.
I now get to go to court in May and fight this. What a waste of taxpayer money, and my time. Ridiculous.”
Given that he is a social media expert, Shankman’s anger spread quickly on Facebook and twitter and was written up by Gothamist and other media outlets.
Shankman’s ticket is below. He’s told some media outlets that the charge could end up costing him as much as $1,000. As I’ve been saying for years: exercise should be illegal!
Images via Shankman’s twitter profile.
This is simply outrageous! As “a big shot in tech-TED circles”, clearly Shankman should be considered above the law and should not be required to follow the rules like the rest of us are supposed to.
Yeah, true. But seriously? This is where you want the police to be focusing their energy? Things are going that well other than people exercising in the park too early?
There is something called “Discretion”, and even the police should avail themselves of this particular quality.
Where are these cops when you need someone to ticket a lazy dog owner who doesn’t pick up dog poop or leash their dogs in the park?
The maximum penalty is 30 days at Rikers. Most likely will get $25 or 6 month probationary period to wipe it off record.
There is a sign at every entrance to the park stating the times you are allowed in. Unless this was his first time in the park, I can understand not seeing the sign that time of day, but most people know this already.
The ticket is not meant as a punishment buth rather as a deterrent against people engaging in risky behavior. Call it a stupidity tax. People have a false sense of security…granted it’s not as dangerous as it once was, bad things still happen in and around Central Park during the wee hours.
“…bad things still happen in and around Central Park during the wee hours.”
So why aren’t the cops busy locking up the people in the park – during these hours when it’s “closed” – who are likely to be committing these bad acts instead of punishing their potential victims? Isn’t the whole concept of the park being safer hinged on there being a greater level of security, rather than punishing innocents so they stay away?
I know everyone has different schedules, and many top executives find that early morning is the only time they can fit in a workout in their busy schedules.
THAT BEING SAID – how many times do we read about crimes taking place (muggings or worse) on people who are alone in parks (Central, Riverside), between the hours of 2:00-5:00am. There’s a reason parks are closed at these times. It’s the rule.
Imagine if someone was driving their car around the loop at that time to go from east side to west side so they can get their faster than going around the park. They get pulled over, given a ticket and the response was: “If I didn’t start that early, I wouldn’t be done before my first meeting of the day.”
We would have no pity for that person, would we?
It’s a rule. The park was closed at that hour. (Now I will say, that a warning probably would have been effective, but that’s another story.)
I agree with everything except giving a warning. If anyone’s life is so incredibly busy that they have to be in Central Park, or any off-limits area, at that hour – in violation of the law – then they need to sit down and take a serious look at their lifestyle, their job, themselves. Get serious. This proves the old adage: “Ya’ can’t fix stupid.”
Oops! I was speeding. Of course I meant to write “get THERE faster,” rather than “get THEIR faster.” Please don’t give me a ticket!
Welcome to the Tea Party, Pete.
People have been running…and getting mugged in Central Park in the wee hours for years. While the NYPD has a right to enforce the closing, the proper approach would be to notify the public, especially surrounding communities, runners groups and sports clubs, that they now intend to enforce the park closing and will issue summonses. Like the jaywalking tickets, a sudden intent to enforce the law should be preceded by letting the public know. Let’s have a little “community relations.”
The problem, not only in law enforcement, but in public service and business is that people are taught rules and regulation, but not common sense decision making. Doing what’s right is not in the equation.
He broke the law and was ticketed for same. Laws apply to everyone.
Hi guys. Couple of quick clarifications:
1) I wasn’t alone. I was running with my training partner, and we both got ticketed. I’m a born and raised New Yorker, I’m smart enough not to run in the park by myself at 4:30am.
2) I have no problem with the letter of the law. The issue is the spirit. As I posted, I was _exercising._ I wasn’t giving hand jobs for crack. The cop had the ability to use his discretion – He chose not to – because it was the end of the month and he had a quota? Maybe.
3) I’ve never said I was above the law. I’m far from a big shot, far from a “rich guy” as I’ve been called on other sites. I’m just a guy who had a meeting at 8am, and if I wanted to make it, I had to run early. That’s all. I’m happy to go in front of a judge and plead my case. If I get off, I get off.
4) There is NOT a sign at every entrance to the park. At 63rd St. and CPW, there is NO sign. None. At all. I’ve taken photos of the entrance. Nothing.
5) End result: Spirt of the law – Not the letter. Understand the difference?
Thanks for allowing me to post.
Cheers,
-Peter Shankman
PS To Frank: I don’t believe I’m stupid. I do believe, though, that I’m training for an Ironman Triathlon, which is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile marathon. I have a full time job, a corporate travel schedule, and a 10 month old daughter. I simply don’t have the luxury to work out “at normal times.” It’s the life I’ve chosen. You might not agree with it, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Where the hell is the “like” button?
IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer), but this summons may be defective. Where the officer is required to print their full name, they only provided their last name. I’ve had parking summonses dismissed for the complainant’s name being illegible or incomplete. At the very least, this would give a judge a reason to dismiss the summons if they’re inclined to do so based on the circumstances, even though the letter of the law was violated.
If Peter were truly ambitious, he’d join a lawbreaking biker gang and ride all over the sidewalks of NYC and then take over the West Side Hwy, before finally terrorizing innocent motorists. The cops not only don’t care about that, some of them even participate. Peter’s just got the wrong hobby, you see.
This crazy ticket, in addition to an article in the NYTimes about an uptick in arrests for panhandling and vagrancy (misdemeanors), leads me to believe the new/old Bratton police department is “cracking down” on small crimes the Kelly police may have once looked the other way on. I have no affiliation with law enforcement, but if you eliminate stop and frisk, but still want to manage crime, this is a “bottoms up” approach that lends itself to possibly stopping smaller crimes before they turn into larger ones. THAT SAID, there should be an exercise in judgement that police USED to be able to make. It APPEARS that has been censured and there is a blanket policy to ticket all violations. This also includes riding your bike on the sidewalk, BTW…
You will scarcely find posts like this anymore. I remember when you could find a few topics similar to this in less than 10 minutes but now it’s much harder.