The Forbidden Apple
New York used to be the city that never sleeps. Theses days, it"s the city that never smokes, drinks or does anything naughty (at least, not in public). The Big Apple is quickly turning into the Forbidden Apple.
If you wanted a glass of wine with your picnic in Central Park, could you have one No chance. Drinking alcohol in public isn"t allowed. If you decided to feed the birds with the last crumbs (碎屑) of your sandwich, you could be arrested. It"s illegal if you went to a bar for a drink and a cigarette, that would be OK, wouldn"t it You can"t smoke in public in New York City.
What"s going on Why is the city that used to be so open-minded becoming like this The mayor of New York is behind it all. He has brought in a whole lot of new laws to stop citizens from doing what they want, when they want.
The press is shocked. Even the New York police have joined the argument. They recently spent $100,000 on a "Don"t blame the cop" campaign. One New York police officer said, "We raise money for the city by giving people fines for breaking some very stupid laws. It"s all about money."
The result is a lot of fines for minor offences. Yoav Kashida, an Israel tourist, fell asleep on the subway. When he woke up, two police officers found him because he had fallen asleep on two seats (you mustn"t use two seats in the subway). Elle and Serge Schroitman were fined for blocking a driveway with their car. It was their own driveway.
The angry editor of vanity Fair magazine, Graydon Carter, says, "Under New York City law it is acceptable to keep a gun in your place of work, but not an empty ashtray." He should know. The police came to his office and took away his ashtray (烟灰缸).
But not all of the New York"s inhabitants are complaining. Marcia Dugatty, 72, said, "The city has changed for the better. If more cities had these laws, America would be a better place to live," Nixon Patricks, 38, a barman, said, "I like the new laws, if people smoked in here, we"d go home smelling of cigarettes."
Recent figures show that New York now has fewer crimes per 100,000 people than 193 other US cities. And it"s true-it"s safe, cleaner and more healthy than before. But let"s be honest-who goes to New York for its clean streets The Forbidden AppleNew York is cleaner and safer than before.