New York Cops Gone Wild
Couple arrested for dancing while waiting for the train in New York.
Smoking first and then it was drinking soda now there is no dance in New York.
A couple waiting for the train to arrive decided to dance a little but they were arrested by New York City Police officers.
Caroline Stern, 55, and her boyfriend George Hess, 54, claim they were handcuffed by having happy feet on the platform of the subway station at Columbus Circle and spent 23 hours in custody as a result.
“I am a dentist, and I am 55 and I was arrested for dancing,” said Stern, to the news media. “It was absolutely ridiculous that this has happened.”
It was almost midnight when Stern and Hess, a teacher of film and prop industry headed home last July from Jazz at the Lincoln Center Swing Night of San Juan. While waiting for the train, a musician began playing the steel drums in the nearly empty platform, and Stern and Hess began to feel the rhythm.
“We were doing the Charleston,” said Stern. That was when two police officers came and took it out at us.’
“They said, ‘What are you doing?’ And we said, ‘Let’s dance,’” he recalled. “And they said, ‘You cannot do that on the platform.’”The police asked for identification, but when Stern, could only produce a credit card, the officers ordered the couple to go with them even though the credit card had the image of the dentist and the firm.
When Hess began trying to film the encounter, things got ugly, Stern said.“We’ve got the camera out, and that’s when they called for backup,” he said. “That’s when eight police ninjas came out of nowhere.”
Hess allegedly was beaten down to the surface of the platform, and the cuffs were then slapped on both. The initial charge, according to Stern, was the disorderly conduct “to prevent the flow of traffic.”“There was nobody on the platform. There were about three people there at the time,” he said.
The charges, including resisting arrest were later dropped. The couple has filed a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department in federal court in Manhattan for unspecified damages.
“If you’re surrounded by good musicians, they will make you want to dance,” said Stern. “The musician who is playing is legal, but the dancers are illegal?”
“When you’re waiting for the subway at night, there is not much to do but dance and celebrate life,” he said.
The Law Department of the city is reviewing the court documents, a spokeswoman said.