September 14, 2004
Despite Cellphone Ban in Theaters, Dialing Continues
The legislation passed 19 months ago, but few people, it seems, have taken note that chatting on your cellphone in a New York City movie theater is now illegal, reports The New York Times.
"Even several owners and managers of movie theaters contacted last week were unfamiliar with the measure, which provides for a $50 fine for talking on a cellphone in public performance spaces, including museums, cinemas and Broadway theaters.
Because the city has provided no extra officers to issue tickets, leaving the theater's employees to try to hail an officer off the street or call 911 - a measure that is both extreme and ineffective, because the offender is usually long gone by the time an officer arrives. Even when the police have arrived in time, she said, they have declined to issue citations.
A police spokesman, Detective Walter Burnes, said issuing tickets for cellphone use was not a priority for the department. The city has no record of any tickets being issued for cellphone use.
"It's like the pooper-scooper law: it's not enforced, but now that people know about it they clean up after their dogs", he said."
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