New York, they say, is one of the most liberal cities in the United States. Still, a lot of stuff is not allowed, either because the city’s administration introduced laws and reglementation (e.g. no smoking inside public buildings, no dancing without a proper license, etc) or because a lot of places are privately owned and the propietor does not want people to behave inadequately. But while e.g. UK-adminstrations or even those in California always stress the cooperative element in rules and orders (“thank you for your cooperation”) or have at least an educational approach (“we have to do this because of this”), in NYC sometimes all those signs transmitted an unfriendly or even suspicious mood to me.
I have a little collection of “No”-signs here, just to stress my observations. And if you do not agree with that perception of New York City life, feel free to discuss it here.

Maybe it has to do with 9/11 that apparently first turned all Nuyoricans in brothers and after that short phase into suspicious enemies and potential terrorists. You will find “If you see something – say something!” signs everywhere which intend to turn citizens into militia. While this seems logical for a nation that feels to be at war with a great part of the world, it is not really beneficial for a civil cooperation.