SCHENECTADY — An Erie County YouTuber is suing Schenectady after being barred from filming inside City Hall in March.
Daniel Warmus, the creator of the Auditing Erie County YouTube channel, is suing the city and Mayor Gary McCarthy in state Supreme Court in Schenectady County, in an attempt to strike down a portion of an October 2022 executive order issued by McCarthy that prohibits filming and recording without consent in city-owned properties except for chambers where public meetings are being conducted.
Warmus, who records video inside of public buildings around the state and posts the interactions with police and city officials on his YouTube account, which has 136,000 subscribers, attempted to film inside Schenectady City Hall on March 14.
According to the lawsuit, Warmus was directed by Schenectady police and security officers to halt filming when he entered City Hall, with Warmus identifying himself as a member of the media.
After being informed that he would be considered a trespasser if he continued to film inside City Hall, Warmus exited the premises.
Warmus is now suing the city and petitioning the court to strike down the prohibitions to film within city property,
The executive order issued by McCarthy in 2022 states in part that, “Except within the city council chambers, executive conference room and other locations in which a public meeting is being conducted pursuant to a public notice, it shall be unlawful and a violation of this order to photograph and/or record with video and/or sound within city-owned, controlled, and leased property that the city utilizes for its purposes.”
McCarthy said on Thursday that the city will defend the executive order in court.
“I believe that we’re acting in an appropriate manner in the best interest in delivering city services,” he said. “So we’ll look to keep the order in place and look to vigorously defend our position.”
The executive order argues that certain areas within city-owned properties are reserved for city employees to conduct city business. It states that the mayor has the authority to identify which areas of city buildings are considered designated public forums or nonpublic forums.
Warmus’ lawsuit argues that the city does not have the right to deny him, “Access to public forums, such as the public areas city hall here, and the ability to record within the same.”
On April 1, Sean Reyes of the Long Island Audit YouTube channel was arrested and charged with a trespassing violation after refusing to leave Schenectady City Hall after filming city officials in their offices while asking questions to the workers about city business.
McCarthy contends that the manner in which the YouTube content creators impose upon city officials while they are conducting city business makes the executive order necessary.
“I’m not speaking on anyone in particular, but they were not just casually taking pictures,” McCarthy said on Thursday. “The position of the camera or cell phone seems to be done more in a manner to harass, alarm, or annoy rather than to get any valid information or document any situation with any level of credibility.”
McCarthy said he has not considered expanding or contracting the executive order since it was issued in October 2022.
“It hasn’t been reviewed in any detail, so we’re looking to keep it as is,” he said on Thursday.
