illegal standing

One of the more annoying things about living in New York was the clueless tourists who stop in the middle of the sidewalk and foul up pedestrian traffic. I can't be too mad, since that's me when I travel, but when you just emerged from a crowded, sweaty subway car, the last thing you wanted was to be impeded on your mad dash back to your apartment.

Anyway, it turns out someone was arrested a couple of years ago for standing, with his group of friends, in the middle of the sidewalk in Times Square. The NYT has a good article on it. On the one hand, it's pretty ridiculous to get arrested (for "disturbing the peace") merely for standing around. On the other, the cop told the guy to move, and it wasn't until after he refused that the cuffs came out. So in some respects this is more a story about jackasses and aggressive cops than anything else. Still, an amusing read, and props to the reporter for using "nonplussed" correctly in a sentence.