Rochester, NY Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Chapter 79, the Parks Code, sets park hours in § 79-2C. Absent a sign posted by the Commissioner of Recreation and Human Services authorizing later hours, city parks are closed from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. during the summer season, defined in the same subsection as April 1 through November 15, and from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. during the winter season, November 16 through March 31. The section bars entry to "no persons except authorized employees or persons with written permission from the Commissioner," so the default rule reaches ordinary visitors as well as anyone lingering after closing, not just people who entered unlawfully.

The curfew sits inside a chapter that separately bans other after-hours conduct: § 79-7.1 bars docking a boat "within a park while said park is closed" except for authorized employees and law enforcement, and § 79-15D separately forbids riding a horse in a park "after dark or before daybreak." Violations of the park curfew, like other Chapter 79 offenses, are heard by the Municipal Code Violations Bureau under § 79-26, which applies the penalties in § 13A-11 of the Municipal Code, the same $25/$35/$65 first-through-third-offense schedule (doubling on default) used for other Rochester ordinance violations, and a court may additionally order reparation to the City for any park damage caused by the violator under § 79-26B.