Ridgewood, NJ Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Section 215-1 sits at the opening of Chapter 215, Peace and Good Order, first adopted August 27, 1974 by Ordinance No. 1541 as Chapter 21 of the 1974 Code, and it is a single, unqualified sentence: no person shall go from door to door or place himself in the streets to beg or gather alms. Unlike ordinances in some municipalities that single out aggressive or threatening solicitation, blocking a sidewalk, or panhandling near an ATM or bus stop, § 215-1 does not carve out a narrower category; it prohibits door-to-door begging and street begging outright, covering both residential canvassing for alms and standing on a public street asking for money.

The section has stood in the Code since the Village's 1974 codification and has not been amended since, unlike its neighboring §§ 215-2 through 215-4, which were revised in 1984, 1975 and 2020. Chapter 215 also separately bars obstructing a street in § 215-6, and § 215-3 lists other conduct barred in public places, such as fighting or gambling, that a police officer could pair with a begging complaint depending on the circumstances observed. Because Chapter 215 sets no dedicated fine for § 215-1, a violation is punished under the Village-wide general penalty in Code § 1-15, and Village Manager-issued permits for supervised solicitation activity under § 215-4 apply only to the separate list of permitted activities in § 215-3, not to begging under § 215-1.