ARREST ON THE F-TRAIN: From OTBKB
Here is somthing my client, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn , wrote about my arrest on the F-Train. I am honored she took the time to do it. There are also some comments that people added to the mix.
Yesterday when I met Elizabeth Pongo, my personal trainer and friend, at the Park Slope Fitness Collective she greeted me in her usual enthusiastic way but I could tell that something was up.
When she got me on the stationery bicycle for a cardio blast she said: "I spent last night in jail."
"What?" I yelped, obviously a little shocked and deeply interested to hear her story as I continued biking in place, rap music blaring on the loud speaker.
She went on to tell me her sad tale. Ms. Pongo was arrested, yes, arrested on the F-train between Broadway/Lafayette and Second Avenue for having her LEGS on the subway seat. It was 3 a.m and she was on the way home to Park Slope from one of her gigs as a stand-up comedian. Her shoes weren't even touching the seat and she was NOT asleep.
A transit police officer came up to her, flashed her badge and said: "Put your feet down and get off the train!" It was not a warning, it was a command. On the subway platform, she asked for Ms. Pongo's driver's license and because she didn't have it or any other photo identification on her, she was handcuffed and ROUNDED up with a group of four homeless men, who had been sleeping on the train.
The police took the group to 14th Street where they were locked up for the evening. Allowed to make only one local call, she called one of her clients at 5 a.m. She was unable to call her mother in New Jersey.
She cried and begged the police officer to let her go home: "I have work tomorrow and I need to SLEEP." She told them that she is an excessively law abiding citizen who pays her taxes early. She showed one of the officers her ATM card and three business cards but to no avail. "You coulda stolen that," one of the cops said. Finally, all she could do was fall asleep in the fetal position in the holding area with her arm chained to a gate. The men were in a different room than she.
The police let her go first thing in the morning after they sent her fingerprints to Albany and got word that she was without a criminal record.
At 1:30 on Wednesday, she was at the Fitness Collective ready to work out with me. She had a little bit of time before work to shower and nap. She actually looked pretty darn great for someone who'd spent the night in jail.
In addition to needing a really good hug, which I gave her, she needs ideas about who she can complain to about this inappropriate and unfair incarceration. She mentioned the New York Civil Liberties Union, someone else said to call her City Council member. If anyone has ideas, please make a comment here or e-mail me.
Ms. Pongo had an experience, probably a valuable one, that she will never forget; an understanding of what it means to be powerless in the face of the law. She got to see what it felt like to be a person of color, a homeless person, an illegal alien: New Yorkers who get mistreated by the police on a regular basis. She now says she feels motivated by the experience: "I am revitalized and re-charged," Ms. Pongo wrote in a comment to OTBKB. "I am ready to do the right thing and take action. I am also pleased to have a network of people to work on how to solve this problem for myself and others."
May 19, 2005 in Postcard from the Slope | Permalink
Comments
She can always go to the media.
Posted by: Little Light | May 19, 2005 11:35 AM
OTBKB is the media! Glad you wrote about this pervasive problem:
pre-emptive detention.
NYCLU sounds like a great idea.
Posted by: Nancy Graham | May 19, 2005 11:39 AM
I'm curious how pre-emptive detention squares up with "innocent until proven guilty". Is there a law in NY that makes it illegal for citizens not to carry personal documentation?
Posted by: udge | May 19, 2005 01:47 PM
An unfortunate lesson for your friend. It is never wise to leave home without any form of photo I.D. I do not think there is a law about carrying I.D. in NY, however, if you are detained by the police, it may become a hinderance to your release, as your friend now understands.
She should learn from this, not take it as an opportunity to express her indignance at not being accorded special treatment because she was so clearly a privileged, educated, law abiding, member of the Park Slope community.
Posted by: Miguel | May 19, 2005 02:54 PM
But maybe it's her duty as a "privileged, educated, law-abiding member of the Park Slope community" to do just that-- get indignant, look up the laws, take it up with NYCLU or whoever. No, it's no less wrong to round up homeless guys, but they probably (not necessarily, but probably) don't have the resources to fight it. She does. And maybe if she does, it will make things better for other people too.
Posted by: elswhere | May 19, 2005 07:30 PM
Dear Miguel,
I am Elizabeth the trainer. And although your word, "indignant," is a good, strong, 25-cent vocabulary word (congratulations!) you may want to consider that in Louise's story – nowhere - did she describe my emotions. That is your perception; and your interpretation, based on your own personal feelings. It may be a sad story, but it has a happy ending.
You see, I am motivated by this experience. I am revitalized and re-charged. I am ready to do the right thing and take action. I am happy that I am safe, and I am pleased that I have a network of people to work with on how to solve this problem. I am not angry. I am lucky it wasn’t worse. I am grateful I can talk about it with people I trust. I am learning.
But thanks for your own personal interpretation of the story. I will make sure to provide other plot points in the future - that will elucidate the catharsis that this experience has lead to for me. I will take action in order to help others, so that they can avoid my mistakes.
Cheers,
Elizabeth
PS - Sorry! This word isn't correct....
in·dig·nant adj.
Characterized by or filled with indignation. See Synonyms at angry.
[Latin indign ns, indignant- present participle of indign r , to be indignant, from indignus, unworthy. See indign.]
Posted by: Elizabeth Pongo | May 20, 2005 12:00 AM
Yesterday when I met Elizabeth Pongo, my personal trainer and friend, at the Park Slope Fitness Collective she greeted me in her usual enthusiastic way but I could tell that something was up.
When she got me on the stationery bicycle for a cardio blast she said: "I spent last night in jail."
"What?" I yelped, obviously a little shocked and deeply interested to hear her story as I continued biking in place, rap music blaring on the loud speaker.
She went on to tell me her sad tale. Ms. Pongo was arrested, yes, arrested on the F-train between Broadway/Lafayette and Second Avenue for having her LEGS on the subway seat. It was 3 a.m and she was on the way home to Park Slope from one of her gigs as a stand-up comedian. Her shoes weren't even touching the seat and she was NOT asleep.
A transit police officer came up to her, flashed her badge and said: "Put your feet down and get off the train!" It was not a warning, it was a command. On the subway platform, she asked for Ms. Pongo's driver's license and because she didn't have it or any other photo identification on her, she was handcuffed and ROUNDED up with a group of four homeless men, who had been sleeping on the train.
The police took the group to 14th Street where they were locked up for the evening. Allowed to make only one local call, she called one of her clients at 5 a.m. She was unable to call her mother in New Jersey.
She cried and begged the police officer to let her go home: "I have work tomorrow and I need to SLEEP." She told them that she is an excessively law abiding citizen who pays her taxes early. She showed one of the officers her ATM card and three business cards but to no avail. "You coulda stolen that," one of the cops said. Finally, all she could do was fall asleep in the fetal position in the holding area with her arm chained to a gate. The men were in a different room than she.
The police let her go first thing in the morning after they sent her fingerprints to Albany and got word that she was without a criminal record.
At 1:30 on Wednesday, she was at the Fitness Collective ready to work out with me. She had a little bit of time before work to shower and nap. She actually looked pretty darn great for someone who'd spent the night in jail.
In addition to needing a really good hug, which I gave her, she needs ideas about who she can complain to about this inappropriate and unfair incarceration. She mentioned the New York Civil Liberties Union, someone else said to call her City Council member. If anyone has ideas, please make a comment here or e-mail me.
Ms. Pongo had an experience, probably a valuable one, that she will never forget; an understanding of what it means to be powerless in the face of the law. She got to see what it felt like to be a person of color, a homeless person, an illegal alien: New Yorkers who get mistreated by the police on a regular basis. She now says she feels motivated by the experience: "I am revitalized and re-charged," Ms. Pongo wrote in a comment to OTBKB. "I am ready to do the right thing and take action. I am also pleased to have a network of people to work on how to solve this problem for myself and others."
May 19, 2005 in Postcard from the Slope | Permalink
Comments
She can always go to the media.
Posted by: Little Light | May 19, 2005 11:35 AM
OTBKB is the media! Glad you wrote about this pervasive problem:
pre-emptive detention.
NYCLU sounds like a great idea.
Posted by: Nancy Graham | May 19, 2005 11:39 AM
I'm curious how pre-emptive detention squares up with "innocent until proven guilty". Is there a law in NY that makes it illegal for citizens not to carry personal documentation?
Posted by: udge | May 19, 2005 01:47 PM
An unfortunate lesson for your friend. It is never wise to leave home without any form of photo I.D. I do not think there is a law about carrying I.D. in NY, however, if you are detained by the police, it may become a hinderance to your release, as your friend now understands.
She should learn from this, not take it as an opportunity to express her indignance at not being accorded special treatment because she was so clearly a privileged, educated, law abiding, member of the Park Slope community.
Posted by: Miguel | May 19, 2005 02:54 PM
But maybe it's her duty as a "privileged, educated, law-abiding member of the Park Slope community" to do just that-- get indignant, look up the laws, take it up with NYCLU or whoever. No, it's no less wrong to round up homeless guys, but they probably (not necessarily, but probably) don't have the resources to fight it. She does. And maybe if she does, it will make things better for other people too.
Posted by: elswhere | May 19, 2005 07:30 PM
Dear Miguel,
I am Elizabeth the trainer. And although your word, "indignant," is a good, strong, 25-cent vocabulary word (congratulations!) you may want to consider that in Louise's story – nowhere - did she describe my emotions. That is your perception; and your interpretation, based on your own personal feelings. It may be a sad story, but it has a happy ending.
You see, I am motivated by this experience. I am revitalized and re-charged. I am ready to do the right thing and take action. I am happy that I am safe, and I am pleased that I have a network of people to work with on how to solve this problem. I am not angry. I am lucky it wasn’t worse. I am grateful I can talk about it with people I trust. I am learning.
But thanks for your own personal interpretation of the story. I will make sure to provide other plot points in the future - that will elucidate the catharsis that this experience has lead to for me. I will take action in order to help others, so that they can avoid my mistakes.
Cheers,
Elizabeth
PS - Sorry! This word isn't correct....
in·dig·nant adj.
Characterized by or filled with indignation. See Synonyms at angry.
[Latin indign ns, indignant- present participle of indign r , to be indignant, from indignus, unworthy. See indign.]
Posted by: Elizabeth Pongo | May 20, 2005 12:00 AM
posted by Pongo at 12:05 AM
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