This material is provided by Picture the Homeless to inform you of your rights and responsibilities under the law. It is not legal advice and cannot substitute for a lawyer.
“Quality of life” violations are minor offenses like open container and disorderly conduct. They are not crimes, meaning that they should be sealed on your New York State rap sheet and people like potential employers and private landlords should not be able to see them (although NYCHA might).
1) They target people who are homeless and are selectively enforced, meaning that police ticket and arrest people who appear homeless and less often ticket and arrest non-homeless people for these same actions.
2) The punishments associated with them are often excessive. The city of New York accumulated over $5 million in fines from summonses in 2005. The two most frequently charged summons offenses in 2005 were Open Container and Disorderly Conduct. Also in the top ten were Public Urination (under 2 different codes) and two separate Parks violations. In addition to fines, people are often given community service, a form of slave labor where homeless New Yorkers are forced to work for the city for free for very minor violations of the law.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT (GENERALLY) - NY Penal Law §240.20 (this is a violation):
Intending or recklessly creating a risk that there will be public inconvenience, annoyance or harm WHILE:
1) fighting or participating in violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior
2) making unreasonable noise
3) using abusive or obscene language or obscene gestures in public
4) disturbing others meeting up (without legal authority)
5) blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic
6) gathering with others in public and not dispersing when police lawfully ask you to do so
7) creating a dangerous/physically offensive condition by any act that does not have a legitimate purpose.
Part of “Prohibited Uses of Parks” -- Parks Dept Regulation §1-04 (this can be a misdemeanor or violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
l 1) entering/exiting the park at places not designated as such or trying to enter locked/restricted areas.
l 2) climbing any tree/ bush/ structure not intended for climbing
l 3) Trying to enter a place in the park where payment is required to enter and payment is not made
l 4) gambling
l 5) interfering with, blocking or making any park road or any part of the park dangerous
l 6) fighting/assault
l 7) harassing others (unreasonably alarming or seriously annoying others)
l 8) sexual activity
l 9) endangering the safety of others
Transit Authority Rule 1050.7 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
a) littering, or creating unsanitary conditions
b) smoking
c) sleeping in a disruptive manner
d) gambling
e) using music/sound players w/o headphones
f) throwing/dropping any item onto the tracks, buildings, or trains
g) drinking alcohol or possessing an unsealed alcoholic beverage
h) being in a station or train where you can’t function safely due to alcohol or drugs
i) acting in a way that would annoy, alarm or inconvenience others
j) taking up more than one seat at a station/on a train, lying on the floor or stairs, or blocking others’ access to the floor or stairs
k) riding bicycles, skateboards, in-line skates, etc.
*It is NOT illegal to sleep sitting up on a train or bus.
New York has several anti-loitering laws, although their constitutionality has been challenged. Generally, loitering in itself is not illegal, though you cannot block residential or commercial entrances or exits. However, loitering for the purpose of doing something else illegal is illegal:
LOITERING (GENERALLY) – NY Penal Code §240.35 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
1) loitering for the purpose of gambling
2) loitering for the purpose of engaging in deviate sex
3) loitering while masked or disguised (except for police-authorized masquerade parties)
4) loitering on school grounds or at a children’s camp
5) loitering in a transit facility for the purpose of making money (like playing music)
6) loitering or sleeping in a transit facility and being unable to satisfactorily explain presence
Part of “Prohibited Uses” of Parks - Parks Department Regulation §1-04 (this can be a violation or misdemeanor):
Behavior that is not allowed:
m) 1) prostitution (buying or selling)
m) 2) loitering to sell drugs or alcohol
Part of “Loitering” generally. There is no MTA regulation about loitering – NY Penal Code §240.35 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
7) loitering or sleeping in transit facility and being unable to satisfactorily explain presence.
Panhandling is not illegal. It is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment. However, certain types of panhandling are regulated:
AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLING (called “Harassment in the Second Degree”) – New York Penal Code §240.26 (this is a violation):
Intending to harass, annoy, or alarm another person WHILE:
1) making/threatening to make violent physical contact with a person
2) following someone in or around a public place
3) engaging in a “course of conduct” or repeatedly acting in an alarming or seriously annoying way to another person, which serves no legitimate purpose.
AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLING (called “Prohibition against certain forms of aggressive solicitation”) – NYC Administrative Code §10-136 (this is a misdemeanor):
Behavior that is not allowed:
b) 1) aggressive begging in public (aggressive begging is approaching or following someone in a way that would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm, damage to or loss of property, intimidation, or causing them to suffer unreasonable inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm. Intentionally blocking or interfering with someone or using violent or threatening gestures towards the person solicited from).
b) 2) begging within 10 feet of an ATM or check cashing business
b) 3) approaching a car to beg or exchange services for money
This does not apply to ATMs in supermarkets, airports, or school buildings (though other restrictions may apply to those places)
Part of “Prohibited Uses” of Parks – Parks Department Regulation §1-04 (this can be a violation or misdemeanor):
s) 1) no selling things without a permit
s) 2) no panhandling in parks
Part of “Use of the Transit System” – Transit Authority Rule1050.6 (this is a violation):
b) 2) No panhandling in any station or on any train
Although there are not specific laws prohibiting sleeping or sitting in public, police often charge people under other laws for these activities.
Sitting/sleeping (Generally)
Part of "Disorderly Conduct -- NY Penal Law §240.20 (this is a violation)
Intending or recklessly creating the risk that there will be public inconvenience, annoyance or harm WHILE:
5) blocking the sidewalk or street for pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
Part of "Vehicles and other movable property -- NYC Administrative Code §16-122 this is a violation)
Behavior that is not allowed:
b) On the sidewalk or in the street: leaving any box, barrel or other movable property or erecting a building or obstruction.
Part of “Prohibited Uses” of Parks – Parks Department Regulation §1-04 (this can be a misdemeanor or violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
o) blocking other persons from using a bench with your person or your stuff
p) camping or maintaining a tent or shelter in park without a permit
Part of “Disorderly Conduct” in Transit Facilities – Transit Authority Rule 1050.7 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
c) Sleeping or dozing in a manner that may be hazardous to others, to their comfort, or to the operation of the transit system
j) Occupying more than one seat in a train or station, or lying on the floor or stairway, or blocking free movement in a station or on a train
SITTING/SLEEPING IN TRANSIT FACILITIES
Part of “Loitering” generally – NY Penal Code §240.35 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
7) loitering or sleeping in transit facility and being unable to satisfactorily explain presence
*It is NOT illegal to sleep sitting up on a train or bus
Public urination is primarily regulated by littering ordinances, with special regulations for parks and transit.
PUBLIC URINATION (GENERALLY) (called “Littering Prohibited”) – NYC Sanitation Code §16-118 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
6) causing / allowing filthy liquid or matter to fall on the streets
PUBLIC URINATION (GENERALLY) (called “Throwing or dropping offensive matter into streets… prohibited”) – NYC Health Code §153.09 (this is a misdemeanor):
Behavior that is not allowed:
Throwing or putting any offensive liquid or substance onto city streets or sewers
Part of "Prohibited Uses" of parks -- Parks Department Regulations §1-04 (this can be a violation or misdemeanor)
Behavior that is not allowed:
k) public urination or defecation in parks
Part of “Disorderly Conduct” in transit facilities - Transit Authority Rule 1050.7 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
a) creating “unsanitary conditions” in transit facilities (urinating in places other than toilets)
When you are ticketed or arrested for a minor offense, you may be offered an ACD plea bargain. Often the judge or lawyer will say something like, “Your case is being dismissed. Just stay out of trouble for six months.” An ACD can offer you immediate freedom BUT there are important things to know about ACDs:
1) A condition of an ACD is often no police contact for six months. If you violate a condition of your ACD you can receive a much harsher penalty than your original violation carried –- like jail time. *If this has happened to you, let Picture the Homeless know -– it is illegal!
2) Under New York’s Criminal Procedure Law §170.55, you can not be given an ACD lasting longer than six months unless it is related to marijuana or family violence.
3) You do not have to take an ACD! If you think you will not be able to avoid police contact or will violate another term of your ACD and do not want to receive a harsh penalty for the violation, ask your Legal Aid lawyer what will happen if you don’t take the ACD.
Generally, when the police ticket and arrest people on the street for quality of life offenses, they do not have a warrant.
Arrests without a warrant;, by police officer; when and where authorized – New York Criminal Procedure Law §140.10:
An officer may arrest a person for:
1) a) any offense committed in his presence (including violations)
1) b) any crime he believes the person committed, in the officer’s presence or not (misdemeanors and above), WHEN
2) a) a violation was committed in the officer’s area of employment
2) b) a misdemeanor or above was committed -– whether or not in the officer’s area of employment
* Note that an officer may not arrest you for a violation that was committed outside of his presence
New York’s “stop and identify law”, NY Criminal Procedure Law §140.50, dictates when the police can ask you to identify yourself. New York’s law also talks about when they can frisk you.
Although the police may demand your name, address, and an explanation of your conduct in these circumstances:
1) this law does NOT mean that you have to produce an identification card, BUT they may arrest you for whatever offense they claim that you are committing and then fingerprint you to verify your identity if you do not; and
2) they are allowed to fingerprint you and identify you if they ARREST you – even if they arrest you for a violation (as long as they claim that they “reasonably suspect” your ID card is false or if you did not offer identification). However, they are not allowed to arrest you solely for not identifying yourself because not identifying yourself is not a crime in New York.
NY Criminal Procedure Law §140.10
1) An officer may stop a person within his geographic area of employment and demand his name, address, and explanation of his conduct WHEN:
- he reasonably suspects the person is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a misdemeanor or a felony (NOT a violation)
NY Criminal Procedure Law §140.10
3) An officer may search a person stopped under the circumstances described at left WHEN he reasonably suspects he is in danger of physical injury AND is searching for a deadly weapon or any instrument capable of causing serious physical injury and is not of a sort usually carried by law-abiding persons in public places.
There are many laws that regulate alcohol possession and consumption, and being under the influence of alcohol in New York City.
Consumption of Alcohol on Streets (Open Container, generally) -- NYC Administrative Code §10-125 (this is a violation):
a) an “alcoholic beverage” contains more than .005 alcohol by volume
b) a “public place” is a place like a street, shopping area, or park that the public has access to.
c) you may not consume, or possess with intent to drink or consume, an open container of alcohol in a public place
d) possessing an open container creates a presumption that you intended to drink it (although you can disprove this presumption)
Part of “Regulated Uses” of Parks - Parks Department Regulations §1-05 (this can be a misdemeanor or violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
f) 1) drinking alcohol in park or possession (even closed) with intention to drink it
f) 2) appearing in park under influence of alcohol to degree that you endanger or unreasonably annoy others
Part of “Disorderly Conduct” in transit facilities -- Transit Authority Rule 1050.7 (this is a violation):
Behavior that is not allowed:
g) drinking alcohol or possessing an alcoholic beverage
h) entering or being in a station or train where your ability to function safely there is impaired by alcohol or drugs