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NY Forces Citizens to Pay for ‘Stargazing Permit’ to View Night Sky in Public Parks

1K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  friendof2nd 
#1 ·
Matt Agorist
January 24, 2020


New York – In the Land of the Free, if you do not pay the State in the form of a permit before you attempt to sell a product or service to a willing customer, you can and will be extorted, kidnapped and caged, with extreme prejudice. While many folks stand behind permits for selling, one permit in New York that has nothing to do with commerce, has garnered the scrutiny of the Free thought Project. If citizens of the state wish to look up at the sky and view the stars at one of New York’s public parks, they will first have to obtain a “Stargazing permit.” Seriously.

Light pollution across the state of New York makes it hard for folks in highly populated areas to view the night sky. So, people who wish to gaze upon the stars at night have to drive many miles away to remote areas. Many of these remote areas are located in taxpayer-funded state parks.

In their efforts to squeeze every dime they can from the tax farm, bureaucrats in New York have devised a scheme to extort citizens who wish to use public parks to gaze upon the night sky. This extortion comes in the form of a $35.00 “Stargazing Permit.” If you are from out of state and wish to gaze upon the night sky from one of these locations that fee jumps to $60.

If you think that you will do anything else besides look at the night sky with this permit, think again. Within the regulations, bureaucrats explicitly point out that the “Permit allows after sunset parking for stargazing only, valid January 1 — December 31.”

But that’s not all, if you want to bring your metal detector to any of these parks, there’s a permit for that too–it’s $40 to passively scan the ground in search of lost metal. Seems legit.

When conducting a news search on Google for a stargazing permit, we couldn’t find any articles calling out this ridiculous assault on liberty, so we decided to take up that task ourselves. We did find a discussion on Twitter, however, in which Neil deGrasse Tyson even chimed in.

No. Back in the day, you didn’t need permission to look up at the sky.​

We should also point out the obvious limits this places on underprivileged residents who may have to choose between $35 in groceries versus paying the state to look up at the stars in a public park. While $35 may not seem like that much to some folks, to others it’s the difference between sleeping with the heat on or freezing. It also serves to drastically limit the imagination and discovery of those who are unable to pay for the permit by disallowing them access to these remote dark areas.

Others are defending the permit in the thread, claiming that it allows people to enter the “closed parks” after hours. But they are clearly missing the point. If you can enter the park with a permit, then it’s not “closed” at all. It’s opened to anyone willing to be extorted or who can afford it. Those who are unable to pay the government or choose not to do so for the exact same activity will be arrested and or further extorted.

Now for the irony and blatant statist hypocrisy. If you want to go after dark to look at stars on state land that you paid for through your tax dollars, you have to pay the government more money for a permit. However, if the government wants to take the most sacred land in the state and put a telescope on it to look at the stars, this is fine and dandy. If you try to protest the government’s construction of star gazing equipment on your sacred land, you can and will be kidnapped and caged.

Case in point: Mauna Kea’s summit is the most sacred of all the mountains in Hawaii to many of the indigenous people. In July, when those people showed up to protest the desecration of their land with the Thirty-Meter Telescope, dozens were arrested.

“These lands were taken from us, so we have rights to them,” Kahoʻokahi Kanuha, an organizer from the Hawaiʻi Unity and Liberation Institute (Huli), a group that opposes construction on Mauna Kea says “We have a spiritual connection to them. We have a genealogical connection to them.”

Well Kanuha, you didn’t have the right permit to claim ownership of the land that was stolen from your people in the 1893, therefore, you are **** out of luck.




https://thefreethoughtproject.com/s...zing-permit-to-view-the-night-sky-yes-really/
 
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#9 ·
I'll just put this out there now. The stars look amazing at my place and i can probably fit 20 cars in my driveway. I'll only charge $15 to park here and won't charge extra for out of state. All i ask is for you to move your vehicle if you're still here at 3:30am so i can go to work.

I had a friend come stay with me who lives in Buffalo. He couldn't believe how different the night sky looks here compared to there.
 
#11 ·
I used to live in Northern NV.. Reno had crap for dark sky, BUT you get out in the middle of BFE, and the sky is total darkness. Camping or hunting in those area like out by Austin, NV or in the Jarbridge Wilderness near Elko and it is amazing.............and that is all on Federally-owned public land.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Not just New York. Pretty much anything they can charge a fee for is fair game. Usually something that a minority of people do. They pass the fee
and most will say "whatever, doesn't affect me---I don't XXXX.". You want to REALLY test the blood pressure meds, do a search for "Hidden taxes".

Fee schedule from Montauk Point, one of the parks listed. FWIW---if you stargaze more than 4 times a year the parking permit beats the daily entry permit, unless it's in addition to the daily $8?

Vehicle Entrance Fee
Cars $8
Non-Profit Buses (By permit only) $35
Commercial Buses $75

2019 Collection Times
4/7 - 5/19: 8am-4pm, weekends only
5/27 - 10/14: 8am-4pm, daily
10/15 - 11/11: 8am-4pm, weekends & holidays only
4 Wheel Drive Beach Vehicle Permit
NYS Driver's License $80
Out of State Driver's License $125
Metal Detecting
By Permit Only $40
Night Sport Fishing Permit
NYS Driver's License $35
Out of State Driver's License $60
7 Night Sport Fishing Permit $25
--7-Day Sport Fishing Permit - One per season
Star Gazing Permit
NYS Driver's License $35
Out of State Driver's License $60
 
#13 ·
In the City of Miami, Florida, there is an ordinance that stipulates that if you tie an elephant to a parking meter, you MUST put money in the meter.

Some times I think that DemocRATS spend their nights awake dreaming new ways in which they can tax the masses.
 
#18 ·
and socialism hasn't even got a good hold on the rest of the country.
that is what the socialist/democrats want,full control
They will never get it as long as we USE our 2nd amendment
Why do you think is the real reason of why they want to eliminate the 2nd amendment? You just answered the question.
 
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