Picture the Homeless

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.