Invasion of the iPod Snatchers
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
It’s tempting to treat as a joke the threat by Senator Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, to introduce legislation in Albany that would ban people from using an iPod, cell phone, or Blackberry type device while crossing the street. But we live in a city where the mayor has banned trans fats, where there is talk of legislation to keep fast-food outlets away from schools, and where there’s other talk to outlaw skinny models. It seems the idea of the nanny state is floating in the ether and the legislators are being taken over one-by-one in a kind of modern version of invasion of the body snatchers.
From the various wires and broadcast reports one gets the impression that Mr. Kruger’s mind was taken over following four deaths since September, including two in his district. We understand his concern. But he wants to set up a fine and actually force innocent citizens who step into a crosswalk while listening to an MP3 player to pay a penalty of $100. The skittish senator is aiming his bill only at big cities across the state, according to a report on Columbia Broadcasting System. Why the senator wants to spare people who live in smaller cities and why the senator reserves his hostility only to persons living in big cities is unclear. But according to the report on CBS, he hopes the “cue” will be picked up by the New York City Council, which, CBS notes, has already banned smoking in restaurants.
It’s hard to predict whether Mr. Kruger’s idea is going to prosper in the Legislature, which is running out of ways to burden New Yorkers after loading them up with the highest taxes in the nation. But here’s our prediction. If this law is passed, New Yorkers will beat it. One report we saw, for example, likened the severity of the law to that prohibiting jaywalking. Yo, ho, ho. Now there’s a law that is honored mainly in the breach. Our bet is the MP3 inventers are going to come up with some nearly invisible earpiece or ultra-light wire, so one can cross the street without the nearest spy for the Senator Kruger noting whether you’re listening to 50-Cent or Toscanini while schlepping to or from work to earn enough money to pay your taxes.
