JFK 11/27 Cargo & Inwood

Not a great day for aviation photography(weather wise) but I decided to head out and meet up with NIKV69 at the cargo area. When i met up with him he was sitting on the road dividers right across from the Taxi parking area. When i pulled up, I thought to myself "gee hes brave being over there" lol this would come to haunt me later. It was pretty quick with the arrivals, a few JetBlues wahooo!! Cathay Pacific 340-600 and the Jamaican 340 were about as exciting as it got. We were shooting for probally about 1/2 hour when after shooting an American I saw a PAPD car out of the corner of my eye, i said to Nick "o well here we go again". The officer pulled up and asked if we were taking pictures of the planes, we responded by saying the usual. He even started saying that we should come back later when its busy, right now the arrivals are to slow. Which i thought was pretty cool. Anways he just told us that the Taxi dispatch called them, informing them of what we were doing. SO he just wanted to check up, he said that we could continue. So we did, about another 1/2 hour went by and he came back. He said "sorry guys, we just keep getting too many calls", asked for just one of our ID's to do a report. And we were sent on our way. Overall that officer was very nice to us and understood what we were doing. So thats all for that one.. Once we moved we decided to go to Inwood, we were there for a good long time. Shooting departures and chatting with the local fisherman. Then Larry came up on the mower. He was really good about the whole thing, told us that "one of your friends got thrown out of here the other day" but that "i dont care what you guys do, its your own hobby and it doesnt bother me" lol this is the best part. HE said "to watch out for the boss, if you see a guy in a truck with a state park seal on the side that we should leave". Cuz its Tom's friend who told him that he "needed a permit" to take picturesOverall both these situations today went very well, each party was very respecting.

What a crazy day, those cab people have some nerve going through so much effort to throw us out, but I did get a nice Cathay A346 pic.

I'm sure the cabbies would be more comfortable if we all wore turbans.

Anyway, I'm amazed -- and surprised, actually -- at the cop you got over at the cargo area (!!) and what he said. It illustrates what's so great about the real laws most of the people we come across just seem to disregard. Great stuff, seeing what happens when smart spotters meet a smart cop.

Also, I haven't seen the AirJam 340 here in a while (in the daytime, at least). Must've been nice!


Brian

Glad to here everything went ok. I was over at Inwood Park and the Cargo Area today and had no problems what so ever. Shot the ANA, Korean and JAl departures from Inwood then went over to the Cargo Area for Arrivals.

While over at the Cargo Area I did see someone else taking pictures who had pulled over underneath the landing lights by the main road leading into the airport. he was there for a good twenty minutes taking pictures. Nobody came by to check him out.


Eric

This was a great stop....at both locations. Courtesy, cooperation, underrstanding. I love it.

However, it does raise a question, which I'd like your thoughts on.

If a cop, like the PAPD officer there, comes by and is kind, but keeps gettng a lot of calsl during our extended stay....do you think we should consier leaving?

If the cop "Listen guys, we're getting a LOT of calls about you guys. I know it's legal, but would you guys mind leaving or going somewhere else,' would you leave?

Well, law enforcement's tendency on that is it ties up resources and you should leave. Since you are on property controlled by the Port Authority and their position on photography is essentially don't ask/don't tell, I would think staying/hanging out is not going to be beneficial in the long term.

On the other hand, NYPD did suggest they were going to put a stop to photography (on a given day) at Howard Beach of all places in one instance (I was not there that day) due to concerns of repeat busybodies. To me, that would be unacceptable in that instance and I think one should hold their ground.

Chris and Eric,

It was great spotting with you guys today. I had a great time. It's great to see young guys like Eric discovering this and not hanging out in the mall or doing other bad things. :mrgreen:

The PA officer today was by far the best I have encountered. Those cabbies are a bunch of *******s. What the hell do they care what we are doing? That pissed me off. If the light was good I would have just moved to the other lot where they couldn't see us.

Tom's buddy Larry is a cool guy too! Glad he is on our side. Chris forgot to mention one fisherman who was acting weird. Asked me how many MM you need to see the antennas on the tower which I still can't figure out why you would need that info, I am glad he left.

For the most part the light today was terrible. I looked at my pics quickly before and most of them look too dark. Actually the only two that may be worth anything are two RJs I shot at the taxi stand right before Chris met me. :x

Forecast looks awful for the next 3 days, next day the sun is out I am at JFK! So anyone that is there drop me a line.

It's all about respect guys. If the cops do as they did in this situation, then I think you handled it right. If they come by once and say they have to check it out, but you're okay, then fine. If they come back, give THEM a break, and pack it up for next time. The more respect we show them for their jobs, the more respect they will show us for our HOBBY.

I saw an article in Airliner World that Miami is "registering" spotters, (visitors can apply as well) and they are given some sort of ID, and then they are not harrassed. How cool would it be to have that available in NY or other cities as well. (ISP come to mind, even though its basically Southwest only.)


That's my 2 cents.
John