Big Boys Hobbies

NYC Metal Detecting Permit

randy said:
.... the park was quite crowded. I had no less than 10 civilians come up to me and ask if I had a permit. ....
Click to expand...

For starters, I am amazed that "10 random civilians" come up to an md'r ANYWHERE , and say "hey, you got this permit ?" . But let's assume for the moment that this is-was the case. Ok, then the next thing that sticks out to me (from your own text, in bold above) is: That you apparently were there at high-noon on crowded days.

Well SURE : If you or I go waltzing over beach blankets and waltzing through ball games-in-progress, then ... why is it any wonder that (gasp) someone might say "gee, what's that guy doing ?" and "gee, is that allowed" blah blah.

I too can think of places that you can detect till you're blue in the face, and no one care or notices. But if you put 10 guys md'ing, or waltz through beach blankets at an archie convention, then SURE, someone might raise a fuss.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into the "park was crowded" comment. But you get my drift. MD'ing is a bit like nose-picking : Not necessarily illegal, but sheesh, we all use a bit of discretion in timing, so as not to offend the squeamish. Right ? :roll:
 
Tom_in_CA said:
For starters, I am amazed that "10 random civilians" come up to an md'r ANYWHERE , and say "hey, you got this permit ?" . But let's assume for the moment that this is-was the case. Ok, then the next thing that sticks out to me (from your own text, in bold above) is: That you apparently were there at high-noon on crowded days.
Click to expand...

Actually, as I said, I was there early. The largest crowd was 7-8AM. That was the crowd that was giving me attitude. The crowd tapered off after the early hours.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Hey there gas-pipe, I enjoyed your post. I won't delve into politics and power and greed, and all the stuff you've said, AS FAR AS IT RELATES TO OTHER ACTIVITIES. Except to say that in the case of THIS discussion (md'ing, and permits in some rare places that ever dreamed them up), is NOT a "power grab". Trust me, they're not making any money off whatever minuscule fee these particular "permits" cost. And trust me : No one is out there enforcing (or cares) about the fine -print on the back of the card (eg.: turn in all objects of value to the park office, blah blah, digger tool shall not exceed 3" in length, blah blah).

So for at least md'ing, no, the reason was not someone's sinister desire to "control our lives".
Click to expand...

LOL . My intent was not to sound like some conspiracy theorist . Having lived there, and given the current nut who is mayor, IT is all about controlling people’s lives ; and the reason I would never get any permit or give out any information required to get a permit . In NYC it is ALL about monitoring everything you do . At present probably the worst US city to live ; except maybe south Chicago . Again I digress....
 
Gaspipe said:
.... IT is all about controlling people’s lives ; .....
Click to expand...

Maybe for other things of our daily lives. But for md'ing, no. I highly doubt that the average person-in-authority cares a single iota about the geek with a metal detector in the sand box or on the beach.

If-ever any rules or permits were laid at us/our geek's feet, it was not about "controlling people's lives" IMHO. I have another sneaking suspicion about why any such rules or permits ever came into being for us. And it was not d/t some "nuts" desire to "monitor" you or me.
 
HistoryHippy said:
I might think it could be both.
The asking the nanny state for permission AND the desire of the same nanny state to control....
Click to expand...

I agree with the first part of your statement. But as for the 2nd part, no, I don't think anyone in authority at these various places had any desire to "control md'rs". In fact, I think they wish they'd simply been left alone, WITHOUT another thing to think about, monitor, address, etc.....
 
HistoryHippy said:
Exactly. Tom the employees do want to be left alone.

The powers that be want everyone under control.
Click to expand...


huh ? I don't understand this Hippy. The employees (that I'm referring to) ARE the "powers that be". So you've lost me :?:
 
The regular Joe governmental employee just wants to be left alone. Not talking about your average paper pusher or civil servant.

I'm talking about the people in charge. The legislatures and regulators.
I know we need regulations for all kinds of things..Hazardous waste, labor laws, saftey etc.
What I'm going on about is the personal control that our public servants have on each and everyone of us. To the point that people can't mind their own business and feel compelled to turn each other in. For very small scale insignificant things that aren't even crimes. Sure call the cops for real crimes like armed robbery and worse. Mding is not a crime.
 
HistoryHippy said:
..... The legislatures and regulators....
Click to expand...

I don't think they get any jollies "controlling" anyone. Nor on a "power trip", etc... They, like the "average Joe" below them, they too are just normal regular people IMHO.

So then you might ask : "Then why do they issue the 'no's', and create silly 'permits' ?", Eh ? Easy : It gets put on their plate as a "pressing decision they must address". And why is it put on their plate as a pressing matter in need of the various edicts ? Because we md'rs historically make ourselves a giant bullseye, asking silly "Can I ?" questions. Hence it's actually we ourselves that are to blame for it. Not them. They're merely addressing our "pressing issue", with safe answers. Can you blame them ? :roll:
 
We have done ourselves a great disservice I totally agree. Being front and center with not filling in holes etc. The constant asking for permission.

What about the busybodies calling up those same powers that be on mdrs? The powers that be respond in the same way to them. They want to stop those calls too.

So they issue bans,rules, and permit schemes. Scary penalties and threats that put all of us in a state of fear.

In consequence the calls for permission and the calls about wierdos digging holes for dimes keep on coming.
 
Reading this has been a hoot. It seems to have come full circle. It started out by asking "why" we need permits, and then finally concluded that we brought it on ourselves...so I guess I'm a little confused by all the angst and anger from some of the earlier posts.
Regardless, the situation as it currently exists, is that most parks (and other city properties) are likely going to require a permit. I know Tom likes to say that asking if it's OK inevitably leads to either a permit being required or an answer of "NO", but you all must admit...by your own words...that we have no other choice but to ask if a permit is required, because the most likely scenario at this point in time is that many others have already done the "dirty deed" of asking, so we'd be crazy not to assume that a permit might be required. It's like a catch-22.
So it's not actually the "newbies" fault. We can't magically go back in time 30 years and just go wherever we want to and not worry about permits Those days are gone...and they were already gone before us "newbies" got into this hobby.
 
FliesOnly said:
..... most parks (and other city properties) are likely going to require a permit. ....
Click to expand...

Actually, no. This is not true. It's actually QUITE RARE that cities dream up "permits" for md'ing. For example, in the entire state of CA, I can think of perhaps 3 or 4 is all. And it's also VERY RARE that any city park's dept. actually has a "no detecting" rule in their park's codes. 99.99% of the time it's simply silent on the issue (not mentioned either way).

FliesOnly said:
.... but you all must admit...by your own words...that we have no other choice but to ask if a permit is required, ....
Click to expand...

No. You don't have to go asking desk clerks "Is a permit required to do such & such". If there WERE a city that dreamed it up, then you can merely look up the rules, for whatever city parks you wonder about, and presto: If a permit were required, it would be spelled out in the rules.

Why do we have to ask a live person ? And you might think "Why not ? Saves time having to hunt down the written park rules after all, eh ?".

Here's why: Because whomever you're asking can answer your question by saying "You can't detect" Or something silly like "no there's no permit, but you can't dig" (even though you NEVER mentioned "digging", yet that's their knee-jerk mental connotation). There has been AMPLE cases of md'rs trying to carefully word the question in a way that puts the burden of proof on the desk-clerk to cite any such rule or permit (if one existed). Only to backfire and get some desk-jockey now worried about "yahoos tearing up the park".

Thus, why can't an md'r look up to see if any rules or permits exist, on their own ? :?:
 
So I have a new permit to detect and I went to point pinole park. Last time I went and didn't know I needed a permit. Anyhow it was a dynamite production site for a hundred years.
I took my scoop on the beach and found some clad, that's about it.
They only allow surface finds on the lawn.:no:
By the way a ranger in a truck passed me while I was walking out and he didn't stop me or anything. Imagine that? I didn't really need the permit.:?:
 
metaladdict said:
So I have a new permit to detect and I went to point pinole park. Last time I went and didn't know I needed a permit. Anyhow it was a dynamite production site for a hundred years.
I took my scoop on the beach and found some clad, that's about it.
They only allow surface finds on the lawn.:no:
By the way a ranger in a truck passed me while I was walking out and he didn't stop me or anything. Imagine that? I didn't really need the permit.:?:
Click to expand...

Encounter DEC/game wardens quite frequently while fishing. Only asked for a license twice in over 50 years. I guess i really didn't need the license all the times i wasn't checked, right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Does anyone keep a permission Log?
Replies
2
Views
116
bottlecap4u
bottlecap4u
wolf-n-wa
Have a permission for those interested. Webster lake, Massachusetts old barn and property.
Replies
1
Views
64
wolf-n-wa
wolf-n-wa
FliesOnly
Got a new permission
Replies
4
Views
99
markinmichigan
markinmichigan
maxxkatt
sharing with property owner question
Replies
5
Views
144
Rock Jock
Rock Jock
MasonDixonMding
New permission
Replies
4
Views
148
MasonDixonMding
MasonDixonMding
Back
Top Bottom