Polite Behavior in New York? Like It or Not, It’s Now the Law

 

  NEW YORK --- New Yorkers are known to throw things onto the field during baseball games at Yankee Stadium. They boo their own mayor at parades. Some refuse to surrender their seats to pregnant women on the subway, while others cut in line and never apologize.

  But somehow a city whose residents have long been scorned for churlish behavior is being praised for adopting rules and laws that govern personal conduct, making New York an unlikely model for legislating courtesy and decorum.

  From tighter restrictions on sports fans and car alarms to a new, ﹩50 fine on subway riders who rest their feet on a seat, New York’s efforts to curb everyday annoyances and foster more civility among its residents have increasingly been studied far from home.

  When Chicago’s leaders wanted to keep rowdy fans off Wrigley Field, they looked to New York, which has arrested 11 people at Yankee and Shea Stadiums under a 2004 law that makes it illegal to interfere with professional sports events.

  When Boston and San Francisco lawmakers considered silencing cellphones in their theaters, they, too, looked to New York, which imposed a ﹩50 fine in 2003 on callers who brazenly dial up during movies, concerts and Broadway show. And when community groups sought new ways to fight graffiti, they saw that New York passed a law in January making building owners responsible for cleaning up after the vandals.

  Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the city has increasingly focused on social policies once thought to be beyond the realm of government. Mr. Bloomberg was largely responsible for the city’s smoking ban in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. He also overhauled the city’s noise code for the first time in three decades, taking aim at loud nightclubs, barking dogs and even that staple of summer, the ice cream truck.

  The crackdowns have left others wondering if the metropolis once known as Fun City is fun no more.

   “It sounds like your City Council is getting really uptight,” said Aaron Peskin, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who, along with his colleagues, has nevertheless looked to New York’s laws for guidance. “It all seems a littler overwrought.”

  Peter Post, the director of the Emily Post Institute, which instructs schools, business and government on etiquette, said that good behavior could not simply be forced on unwilling people.

  “I think we’ve reached a tipping point with rudeness,” he said. “Instead of people quietly putting up with rude behavior, they’re finally saying, ‘I don’t have to put up with that anymore.’”