Syracuse, NY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Revised General Ordinances Sec. 24-18 bars anyone from placing, or helping to place, stone, brick, board, plank, timber, lumber, or other building material in a street, alley, public square, or other city property without written permission from the commissioner of public works. The rule reaches beyond the person doing the physical placing: it also covers anyone who 'assists in placing' or 'attempts or assists in erecting' the material, so a contractor cannot rely on subcontractors to avoid the permit requirement.

Sec. 24-19 sets the terms of that permission. The commissioner can authorize a person to keep building material in a street, alley, or public square in front of the lot where construction is happening, but the permission cannot run longer than three months, cannot authorize blocking a sidewalk or gutter at all, and cannot authorize obstructing more than half of the street's carriage way opposite the lot. The commissioner or the common council can revoke the permit at any time. Once the job is done or the permit expires or is revoked, Sec. 24-20 requires the permit holder to clear all materials and construction rubbish from the street.

Sec. 24-21 extends the same permit requirement to the work itself, not just storage: sawing or splitting wood, mixing or tempering mortar, or doing other construction processing on a street, alley, sidewalk, crosswalk, or public square is only allowed under a Sec. 24-19 permit. A contractor who sprinkles down a sidewalk or crosswalk during this work faces a separate prohibition under Sec. 24-22, which bars contractors from sprinkling sidewalks or crosswalks within the city outright.