Yonkers, NY Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Yonkers regulates residential smokers indirectly through Fire Code 308 and through general nuisance, air pollution, and noise provisions of the City Code. A smoker - whether charcoal, wood, pellet, or gas-assist - is an open-flame cooking device for fire-code purposes, subject to the 10-foot clearance from combustibles and the prohibition on use on combustible balconies. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation enforces 6 NYCRR Part 215 (Open Fires), which generally prohibits open burning of brush statewide outside seasonal exceptions but does not prohibit normal residential cooking, including barbecues and smokers. Persistent smoke complaints can be filed with the Yonkers Department of Health and Human Services and may be addressed under the general nuisance provisions. Smokers are typically allowed by right at single-family detached homes within the 10-foot rule. At condominium or co-op communities governed by New York Real Property Law 339-d, the HOA bylaws and house rules may restrict smokers on balconies, terraces, and common decks even where the Fire Code would otherwise allow them - private rules can be stricter than the public code.