Schenectady, NY Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Chapter 192, § 192-12 defines loitering broadly: remaining idle in essentially one location, including spending time idly, lingering, sauntering, delaying or standing around, the colloquial hanging around. A public place covers anywhere the general public has access, including the front of a store, shop, restaurant or tavern, plus public grounds, areas and parks. The ordinance does not criminalize idling by itself. Subsection B makes it unlawful only when a person loiters, loafs, wanders, stands or remains idle, alone or with others, in a way that obstructs a public street, highway, sidewalk or building by hindering the free passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians, or that interferes with a business lawfully operating on or facing that street, sidewalk or building.

Enforcement runs through a two-step process under Subsection C: a police officer or other law enforcement officer must first order the person to stop and to move on or disperse, and only a refusal or failure to obey that order becomes the actual violation of the section. A conviction carries a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 15 days' imprisonment, or both, and the code treats every successive day the conduct continues as a separate offense, so a standoff that drags on for days can multiply the exposure.

The section was last amended by Ordinance No. 90-67 in 1990 and sits in Chapter 192, Article I, alongside other peace and good order offenses like disorderly assemblies and damaging property, giving Schenectady police a general-purpose tool for moving people along from doorways, sidewalks and public grounds without booking them for a more serious offense on the first encounter.