Absolutely Ridiculous': Middle-Aged Couple Reportedly Spends 23 Hours in Custody After Dancing at NYC Subway Platform

Caroline Stern, 55, and her boyfriend George Hess, 54, reportedly spent 23 hours in police custody after dancing at a nearly-empty subway station in New York City.

“I’m a dentist, and I’m 55, and I got arrested for dancing,” the woman told the New York Post. “It was absolutely ridiculous that this happened.”

So what's the back-story?

Watch Fox's recap of the event, featuring a picture of the happy couple:

The New York Post relates:

It was nearly midnight when Stern and Hess, a film-industry prop master, headed home last July from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing. As they waited for the train, a musician started playing steel drums on the nearly empty platform and Stern and Hess began to feel the beat.

“We were doing the Charleston,” Stern said. That’s when two police officers approached and pulled a “Footloose.”

“They said, ‘What are you doing?’ and we said, ‘We’re dancing,’ ” she recalled. “And they said, ‘You can’t do that on the platform.’ ”

The cops asked for ID, but when Stern could only produce a credit card, the officers ordered the couple to go with them — even though the credit card had the dentist’s picture and signature.

When the couple tried to film the order, Stern says the officers called for backup.

“That’s when eight ninja cops came from out of nowhere,” she said.  Her boyfriend was allegedly tackled to the floor, and then both were handcuffed.

The initial charge was reportedly disorderly conduct for “impeding the flow of traffic,” but Stern argued that "there were like, three people [on the platform]."

The New York Post has the latest on the story:

The charges, including resisting arrest, were later dropped. The couple has filed a Manhattan federal court suit against the city for unspecified damages.

“If you are surrounded by good musicians, that’s going to make you want to dance,” Stern said. “The musician who is playing is legal, but . . . we’re illegal?”

The avid hoofers frequently go out on the town to boogie.

“When you’re waiting for the subway late at night, there’s not much to do but dance and celebrate life,” she said.

The city Law Department is reviewing the court papers, a spokeswoman said.

Between limits on smoking, trans fats, soda, and now dancing, apparently-- what is New York City coming to?

(H/T: Daily Mail)