Hempstead, NY Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)

Chapter 174, Abandonment of Vehicles During Snow Emergencies, gives the Town Supervisor sole authority to declare and end a snow emergency (Section 174-2), a step taken to keep vehicles from blocking snowplows and other removal equipment during and after a snowfall, as the chapter's own legislative history explains. Once declared, the Town must broadcast notice of the emergency, and later its termination, through whatever media are available at the time, from local radio and television to loudspeakers, newspapers and municipal bulletin boards (Section 174-3). Section 174-4 makes it unlawful for an owner to park, or let a vehicle stay parked, on any Town street once a snow emergency starts, and that prohibition runs until the Supervisor formally terminates the emergency, not just until the snow itself is cleared.

'Town street' reaches any street, road, highway or cul-de-sac the Department of Public Works has snow-removal jurisdiction over, and 'park' is defined broadly as leaving a vehicle standing and unattended longer than it takes to load or unload passengers or freight (Section 174-1). This chapter is distinct from Chapter 173's separate abandoned-vehicle rules, which the Code cross-references, so a car towed during a snow emergency can also trigger the ordinary abandoned-vehicle removal and title-vesting process.