Babylon, NY Parking Rules: Towing & Impound Rights (2026)

Chapter 198, Article III of the Town of Babylon Code sets what a towing company may collect after pulling a car off private property, and § 198-50A is the ceiling. The tow charge is capped at the rate written into the property owner's filed agreement and posted on the lot sign, and the only other permitted charge is storage at $25 per day. That meter does not start at the hook: § 198-50A allows storage only commencing the calendar day following the towing of the vehicle. Nothing else is authorized, so an administrative fee, gate fee or release fee falls outside the section.

Payment method is the driver's choice. Section 198-50B and § 198-53B both require the licensee to accept cash or a credit card at the option of the vehicle owner or operator, and § 198-53B requires that payment be accepted in person at the location where the car is retrieved, after which the vehicle must be released immediately upon request. The receipt prescribed by § 198-53A must carry the tower's name, business address, business telephone number and license number as they appear on the Town license, the date and time the vehicle was released, and the telephone number of the Town Clerk's office that receives towing complaints.

Two local rules control where the car goes. Section 198-49 forbids moving a towed vehicle out of the Town of Babylon at all, and § 198-45B(4) and (5) require the filed agreement to name a redemption location inside the Town with twenty-four-hour on-premises availability. Under § 198-48A the operator must notify the First Precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department and respond to the nearest precinct with the vehicle; § 198-48B then requires the company to write the owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail, postmarked by the end of the business day following the tow, stating the cost of the tow and the per-diem storage fee.

Section 198-51B covers the car that is already hooked. If the registered owner or other person in control arrives before removal, the vehicle must be disconnected and that person allowed to drive off without interference; no drop fee is authorized, and the property owner and tow company are directed instead to Civil Court or Small Claims Court. Section 198-51A separately bars towing a vehicle occupied by a person or a live animal, one in a space reserved for individuals with a handicap, or one bearing a Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1203-a permit or MD plates, and § 198-52 voids any waiver purporting to limit liability for damage to a towed car.

Accident and disabled-vehicle tows run under Article I instead, where § 198-30 gives the owner the right to direct the location the car is towed to and § 198-26 caps the bill at the maximum prices filed in the licensee's own license application. New York's towing statute, General Business Law § 399-v, applies outside cities of one million or more and leaves rate-setting room to localities; Babylon has used it. Article III does not reach tows by the Town itself or by a holder of a Lien Law § 184 lien (§ 198-55).