New York Jaywalking Legal?

Jaywalking is the term for all you petty criminals who cross the street against the light, walk across the street between intersections or run across the street without yielding to cars .  In my 3 weeks of living in New York I have seen many of you doing all of the ABOVE! 

And  I have to wonder, "Is Jaywalking legal here or  just part of the NY Culture?"

ATTN: They invented the CROSSWALK so you can safely walk across the street!!

In my home State of Michigan, pedestrians might jaywalk in the rare senario that there was no cross walk in sight, but most wouldn't bother with the risk of A) Getting a ticket  B) Getting hit by a car C) Causing a car to crash in order to avoid the jaywalker. Here in NY it's as casual as saying Hi to a friend!

In the last year alone, 50 pedestrians were killed due to jaywalking according to New York City's Department of Transportation. So why is it "okay" in New York? Jaywalking IS against New York law, yet so many cops turn a blind eye to the act!

Check out what's happening to offenders in Australia!

WHY is it called "Jay-walking" anyways?
The term jaywalking is a compound noun consisting of the words jay and walking.  In the olden days in the American Midwest jay was a derogatory term for people from rural areas.   Then, like it might still be the case, people fro the countryside were considered to, well, at least naive and inexperienced when it comes to the ways of the city, especially traffic.  And so the poor jays walked all over the streets with no regard to traffic.

No you Know better, so you can do better!

Be Safe my friends!!