Albany, NY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

City Code § 323-5, added in 1987, bars obstructing any street, sidewalk, driveway, or alley in Albany without first obtaining a barricade permit from the Building Commissioner. The obstruction ban is broad on its face, reaching any blockage of these public ways, not just formal barricades. Violations tie back to the enforcement scheme in Chapter 375, Zoning, rather than carrying penalties written into this chapter directly. The provision sits inside Chapter 323, Streets and Sidewalks, alongside older 19th-century rules restricting awnings, signs, and stoops that project over a sidewalk: showing Albany has long treated the right-of-way as public space that private obstructions need city sign-off to use.