01/10/2025
Out Magazine reports that since June 1st, over two hundred gay and bisexual men, have been arrested for cruising offences at Penn Street Station in Central New York. Such arrests are reminiscent of earlier periods of policing in the city, where pretty policemen were used to entrap gay, bi and pansexual men who were looking to hook up. Out reports that some of the men have been referred to immigration services, such is the toxic mix of Trumpian politics, homophobia and oppression bound up in the phenomenon. New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and some of his colleagues are calling on Roger Harris, the president of Amtrak, to meet with elected officials to end this sting operation. New York City council members, Erik Bottcher and Tiffany Cabán, wrote a letter on Thursday to Harris sharing their concerns about the reports of "deeply alarming violations of civil rights, due process, and protections against discriminatory policing." In the letter, they write that they request a "written explanation of how these arrests have been conducted, how many people have been affected, and what safeguards Amtrak will put in place to prevent further violations of civil rights."
