West New York, NJ Curfew Laws: Juvenile Curfew (2026)

Chapter 167 of the Code of the Town of West New York was adopted by the Board of Commissioners on 7-21-2010 as Ord. No. 15/10 and amended in its entirety on 8-17-2011 by Ord. No. 13/11. Section 167-1 covers any legally unemancipated person under 18 years of age, called a juvenile, and every public right-of-way, defined as a street, alley, sidewalk, public park or any other public property in the Town of West New York. Curfew hours run from 10:00 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and from 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, ending at 6:00 a.m. the following day. The preamble cites N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.52 and Betancourt v. Town West New York, 338 N.J. Super. 415 (App. Div. 2001), which is why the chapter protects parental permission.

Section 167-2 lists six exceptions: being accompanied by a parent or guardian; traveling from one destination to another, neither of them a public right-of-way, with parental permission for any lawful purpose; traveling to or from a lawful occupation; traveling to or from a school function or a function sponsored by a nonprofit entity; standing on the sidewalk immediately in front of the juvenile's residence without blocking the public way; and attending a school or nonprofit function held in a public right-of-way. Each exception has a clock. A juvenile still on a public right-of-way one hour after starting travel under exceptions (2) through (4), or on the home sidewalk for more than one hour during curfew hours, is in violation.

Section 167-3 makes it unlawful for a parent or guardian with legal custody to knowingly permit a juvenile to remain on a public right-of-way outside the exceptions. The code says "knowingly" includes what a parent should reasonably be expected to know about the juvenile's whereabouts, and complete indifference is no defense.

Under § 167-4, a police officer first uses best judgment on age absent a birth certificate or government-issued identification, then tells a juvenile who appears to be violating the chapter to continue on and leave. A juvenile who remains idle in essentially one location, or is "hanging around," appears to be in violation. Refusing to move along or give a reason that establishes an exception is prima facie evidence of a violation.