© 2026 Luke T. Bush
PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 11/30/26
I take one photo and someone yells at me.
I was walking along a main street sidewalk when I spotted a photographic subject: a tartan pink and black necktie hanging from a chair.
The outdoor seating area for the eatery was empty, no customers to be disturbed by my camera. I snapped my shot when a pickup truck pulls up, the eatery owner asking me what I was photographing. I told him the lost tie.
He told me I couldn't take any photos of the outdoor seating because it was private property. I replied that it was a public sidewalk, I could take any photos I wanted.
He insisted that spot was private property, warning that he wouldn't allow me to take any photos. Did he buy that sidewalk area from the city and now owns it?
Why was this clown so upset with me taking a shot of a tie hanging on a chair in an empty seating area?
Here's what the law says about photography in public places:
"Taking photographs and videos in public spaces in the United States is generally legal and protected by the First Amendment.
"General Rules in Public Places
"What you can photograph: Sidewalks, parks, plazas, transit stations, and the exteriors of federal or public buildings. If you can plainly see it from a public space, you have the right to record it."
Check with the ACLU for more details. Or your lawyer.
PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 11/30/26
I take one photo and someone yells at me.
I was walking along a main street sidewalk when I spotted a photographic subject: a tartan pink and black necktie hanging from a chair.
The outdoor seating area for the eatery was empty, no customers to be disturbed by my camera. I snapped my shot when a pickup truck pulls up, the eatery owner asking me what I was photographing. I told him the lost tie.
He told me I couldn't take any photos of the outdoor seating because it was private property. I replied that it was a public sidewalk, I could take any photos I wanted.
He insisted that spot was private property, warning that he wouldn't allow me to take any photos. Did he buy that sidewalk area from the city and now owns it?
Why was this clown so upset with me taking a shot of a tie hanging on a chair in an empty seating area?
Here's what the law says about photography in public places:
"Taking photographs and videos in public spaces in the United States is generally legal and protected by the First Amendment.
"General Rules in Public Places
"What you can photograph: Sidewalks, parks, plazas, transit stations, and the exteriors of federal or public buildings. If you can plainly see it from a public space, you have the right to record it."
Check with the ACLU for more details. Or your lawyer.
