Oyster Bay, NY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 205-3 of the Town Code, in Article II of Chapter 205, bars the owner, occupant, or lessee of any premises abutting a street, road, highway, or parkway in the Town's unincorporated area from placing, keeping, or allowing goods, wares, merchandise, boxes, barrels, display signs, or other material things on the adjacent sidewalk, or otherwise obstructing or interfering with its use. The section carves out one narrow exception: goods, wares, merchandise, or household furniture can sit on the sidewalk temporarily while being loaded or unloaded, provided it happens without unnecessary delay and the items don't remain on the sidewalk for more than one hour.

Subsection B extends the same obstruction ban to the curb, gutter, and street in front of a property, specifically naming basketball hoops, traffic cones, and barricades as prohibited items, while allowing a cone or marker to be placed temporarily in the street to flag a road defect. Because § 205-3 applies only in the Town's unincorporated area, it doesn't reach sidewalks inside any of the roughly twenty incorporated villages within Oyster Bay's boundaries, such as Bayville or Massapequa Park, which enforce their own village codes.

The rule works alongside § 205-4, which separately requires a permit for any planting placed in the strip between curb and sidewalk, putting maintenance of those plantings on the adjacent owner or occupant.