Oyster Bay, NY Special Events & Permits: Block Party Permits (2026)

Town Code § 4-117, subsection D, assigns block party and parade permits to the Division of Highway and Public Parking, one of the divisions the Town Board created inside the Department of Public Works under Article XI of Chapter 4. " That is the Town's only codified reference to block parties: there is no separate special-events chapter, printed application form or advance-notice deadline spelled out for a resident planning a neighborhood street closure. Applicants deal directly with the Division of Highway and Public Parking rather than the Town Clerk's licensing office, since § 147-3 of the general Licenses and Permits chapter expressly excludes permits that the Code assigns to another department to issue.

Fees are not fixed in the Code itself. for any other service rendered in connection with the work of his department," meaning the Commissioner of Public Works sets and can revise the block-party permit fee administratively rather than through a Town Board vote. Because the division head "shall have all the powers and duties of a Town Superintendent of Highways as prescribed by law" under § 4-117(D), the same office also controls the logistics of a closure, including barricade placement and reopening the street to traffic.

No section of Chapter 4 sets a specific fine for closing a street without this permit. That silence triggers the Town's catch-all rule at § 1-13: any act the Code declares unlawful "where no specific penalty is provided therefor" is a violation punishable by "a fine not exceeding $250 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both," with each day of continuation charged as a separate offense.