No, no — they're not scooping up all those kids breakdancing for bucks on the 2/3 express. No, last July, two New Yorkers in their mid-50s (a film-industry prop master and a dentist) were collared because they were caught doing the Charleston in a nearly empty 59th Street subway station. According to the New York Post, the two were on the way home from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing (some sort of gang ritual, apparently) and started swinging to the sounds of a subway musician. "What are you doing," asked the police. "We're dancing," came the fairly obvious answer. After some business about rules and regulations, a kerfuffle over IDs, and a sudden, somewhat rough tackling by eight officers, the two pernicious jitterbuggers (pictured below) were handcuffed, arrested, held in custody for 23 hours, and charged with — get this — “impeding the flow of traffic.” Phufff. Look, while the boys in blue have been protecting us New Yorkers, they've also been knocking us around pretty hard lately with stop-and-frisks, bullets, and old-fashioned billy clubs. But, really, arresting people for dancing? New York ain't the town in Footloose! (New York Post)
Photo: Via New York Post.