How absurd, do they question people taking pictures of the Empire State building now too?
Yes, indeedy do. My sister was stopped by security personnel at the Empire State Building in 2003 for taking this little gem:
She was told that it was a security violation to take a picture of that (why?) and that she could be arrested for that. Mind you, though, she and the group she was with visited the Empire State Building to do the whole observation-deck thing, where they took lots of pretty pictures of practically the entire New York City skyline with no problems.
It seems to make no sense where they enforce things. Oh, we yearn for those carefree days of a few years ago...
Ben F. Schumin :-)