Putting Feet Up on Subway Seats Is Costly in New York

Lounging on the New York subway with feet up on the seats was costly to lazy riders fined by the city last year, police said.1

More than 7,000 riders on New York City subways were ticketed2 last year for putting feet on the seats or otherwise taking up too much space, under a law that makes bad manners a crime.

The offences, which ranged from putting a bag on a seat to blocking a door to stretching out for a nap, carry $50 fines, police said.3 In all, 7,373 riders were issued tickets in 2011 for being unable to confine themselves to4 a single seat. The law making such behavior illegal was passed seven years ago. While the crimes may seem benign, the New York Police Department said enforcement has made the subway safer.5

It is not unusual for police to find someone they have stopped for poor subway etiquette has an outstanding arrest warrant,6 said police spokesman Paul Browne.

“One of the reasons that crime in the subways has plummeted from almost 50 felony crimes a day in 1990 to only seven now is because the NYPD enforces violations large and small,”7 he said in an email.

Police often encounter “armed or wanted felons who were initially engaged in relatively minor offences, like putting their feet up, smoking, walking or riding between cars, or fare beating,” he said.8

1. lounge: 懶洋洋地站（坐、躺）著；fine: v. 對……處以罰款。

2. ticket: v. 給……開罰單。

3. offence: 違法行為，犯罪；stretch out:〈口〉躺下（睡覺或休息）；nap: 小睡，打盹。

4. confine to: 只限于……。

5. benign: 無危險的，良性的；enforcement: 強制執(zhí)行。

6. etiquette: 禮儀，禮節(jié)；arrest warrant: 逮捕證。

7. plummet:（價值或數(shù)量）驟然跌落；felony: 〈律〉重罪；NYPD: =New York Police Department，紐約市警察局。

8.他說，警方經(jīng)常遇到“持有武器或被通緝的重犯，他們最初犯的只是一些比較輕微的罪行，比如把腳蹺起來，吸煙，在車廂之間走來走去或者騎車，還有逃票?！?fare beating: 逃票。