The “NYC blanket couple” - could they be fined or put in jail?

A video that went viral has caused outrage across the internet. TikTok user @girlsorwomen posted a video of a couple underneath a blanket in the middle of a busy public park, presumably performing sexual acts. The couple can be seen rolling around under the blanket in Battery Park in New York City as the sun shines and children play nearby. Other angles and videos have emerged as well that seem to confirm what people had already assumed, and yet...we can’t be 100% sure.

One user on TikTok wrote, “The other POV was somehow still SO GRAPHIC even tho they were under the blanket i felt like i saw EVERYTHING”.

One video shows the couple emerging from the blanket once the sun has started to set. The couple is fully clothed when they finally come out from under the blanket, with the man wearing pants and a T-shirt and the woman wearing leggings and a sweater. According to the videos posted online and the sheer amount of people that were present at this busy park, it seems the couple was under that blanket for a pretty long time. People on the internet are outraged, calling on legal action for the couple.

But can they actually get into legal trouble for this? It’s a little cloudy.

New York’s laws against public sex

It is indeed against the law to have sex in public in New York. Battery Park would most certainly be considered a public place. However, the “having sex” part might be harder to prove, however obvious it may seem.

The charge for sex in public is called public lewdness, which is considered to be any act of sexual “gratification” performed in public or in the public’s view. It includes masturbation, intercourse, and indecent exposure.

Considering the couple was never actually indecently exposed, and was fully clothed when they emerged from the blanket, it could be difficult to prove that they were actually performing a sexual act. One video shared on social media joked that the man could have had an accident and needed a change of pants, using the blanket to hide from the public. While that seems unlikely, there really isn’t a way of actually proving that what went on under the blanket was a crude and indecent act.

In 1991, a New York court determined that having sex in a car did not constitute public lewdness unless the act could readily be seen by passerby. In this case, people could see the blanket and the outline of people, but not the people themselves.

In New York, a public lewdness conviction could be penalized with a fine and jail time or probation and is not considered a felony.

The couple has not yet come forward to explain their actions and acted as if nothing strange had happened when emerging from the blanket. As far as we know, no one attempted to stop the couple from doing whatever it is they were doing and no one called the police.