Piscataway, NJ Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Piscataway Township Code § 12-2.1, carried over from the 1972 Code § 5-13.1, makes it 'unlawful to drink or possess in an open or closed container any alcoholic beverage in any Township park or playground within the Township at any time,' a flat ban that covers possession as well as drinking and reaches closed containers, not just open ones. The only way around the ban is § 12-2.2's permit: the Director of Parks and Recreation or a designee 'may issue a permit for the possession and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages in a specific Township park or playground at a specific time or times,' and the ordinance directs the Director to grant it 'in all cases in which the applicant demonstrates that the issuance of the requested permit does not adversely affect the public interest,' so approval turns on a public-interest showing rather than pure discretion.

Section 12-2.3 sets its own penalty separate from the Chapter 12 general penalty at § 12-6: a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $250, or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both, at the Municipal Court's discretion. The rule sits in Chapter 12, Parks and Recreation Areas, alongside the dusk-to-dawn park curfew at § 12-1.1 and the separate glass-container ban at § 12-1.6, so an open beer bottle in a Piscataway park after dark can implicate more than one section at once.