Morning Lou,
Push comes to shove, Federal law superceeds state and local laws. It is
legal now in all 50 states for a ham radio operator to have a receiver
either in hand or in his/her vehicle. The state of New York states
while this is legal under ferderal law, it is illeagal to have in a
vehicle, a radio that is CAPABLE of TRANSMITTING on public service
frequencies, as many of todays tranceivers can. This is a very specific
distinction in NY. As for carrying a portable receiver onboard a PUBLIC
carrier, your actions are legal as one of "the people" A PRIVATE
carrier may impose specific regulations or rules on passengers, which
may be theoreticly a violation of ones constitutional rights, but
could be enforced at that time, as long as notification of such rule is
properly displayed and presented to the patron. The idea is to avoid a
problem before it becomes one, and that is due to the climate out
there, with all the tension and "heightened" awareness, it would be
best to keep such a device passivly displayed or under wraps as to
avoid potential conflict. Headphones ARE A MUST!
I know of now law that resricts the possession of a radio scanner on
ones person while transiting onboard any ground transportation..You may
request from your carrier, a WRITTEN list of compliances for its
passengers.
Cheers and happy RX'ing