New York Ordinances (2026)

Agriculture and Markets Law Article 15 establishes a uniform statewide apiary inspection program with mandatory disease control standards applicable to all hives in New York.

Agriculture and Markets Law section 107(5) preempts municipalities from enacting breed-specific dog regulations, ensuring uniform treatment regardless of breed across New York.

Under New York Agriculture and Markets Law §373, any police officer or humane society agent may seize a lost, strayed, homeless, or abandoned animal, cattle, goats, sheep, or chickens…

Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0512 universally prohibits possessing wild animals such as big cats, bears, wolves, and venomous reptiles as pets across New York.

New York requires state retail registration for every tobacco and vapor product seller and bans online or mail-order shipment of vape products directly to consumers statewide.

New York Cannabis Law allowed municipalities a one-time opt-out window before December 31 2021, after which the Office of Cannabis Management uniformly licenses retail dispensaries…

New York law lets adults 21 and over grow cannabis at home and preempts municipalities from prohibiting it, setting uniform plant limits and secure storage requirements statewide.

New York Labor Law §652 sets a tiered statewide minimum wage that leaves no room for local wage ordinances. As of January 1, 2026 the rate is $17.00/hr in NYC, Long Island, and…

New York mandates paid sick leave under Labor Law § 196-b and paid family leave under Workers' Compensation Law Article 9, with statewide coverage that applies to nearly every private…

New York Executive Law Article 42 and the Coastal Management Program require state and local agency actions in designated coastal areas to be consistent with statewide coastal policies…

New York's Environmental Conservation Law makes it unlawful to discharge stormwater pollutants to state waters from a construction site without a SPDES permit. Operators disturbing one…

New York Environmental Conservation Law and the Uniform Code require all municipalities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program to adopt and enforce minimum floodplain…

New York Environmental Conservation Law and the SPDES program impose uniform statewide stormwater discharge permit requirements that apply to construction sites and MS4 communities…

New York's Town Law § 300 makes adjoining landowners split the cost of a division fence along their shared boundary, but only when the land is actually used to keep animals…

New York Penal Law bans most consumer fireworks statewide. Ground-based sparkling devices are legal by default outside New York City, though counties may opt out and about a dozen have…

New York's Environmental Conservation Law Section 9-1105 makes it unlawful to set any open fire burning brush, leaves, grass, or debris in a designated fire town without a written…

New York requires a state-issued concealed carry license under Penal Law § 400.00, with mandatory training and a long list of statewide sensitive locations where carry is forbidden.

New York Penal Law treats a vehicle as a public place for firearm purposes, requiring a valid pistol license to transport a handgun and strict storage rules for long guns and…

Every mobile food service establishment and pushcart in New York needs a valid permit from the local health department before operating, under Subpart 14-4 of the State Sanitary Code…

New York's Upstate Gaming Economic Development Act divides the state into two casino development zones. Zone One is New York City plus Nassau, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and…

New York grants no automatic right to run charitable gambling. General Municipal Law Article 9-A lets a town, city, or village opt in to games of chance by local law or ordinance, but…

New York's Penal Law never criminalizes playing a private card game or betting pool: it only criminalizes advancing or profiting from gambling. Penal Law § 225.00(3) protects anyone…

Sports betting is legal in New York only through operators licensed by the state Gaming Commission under Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law Section 1367-a. Nine mobile…

New York has no comprehensive HOA act. Condominiums get a statutory common-charge lien under Real Property Law § 339-z that is foreclosable like a mortgage but junior to a first…

New York homeowners association boards answer to Not-for-Profit Corporation Law Section 621. A member of record for at least six months, or a holder of five percent of any voting…

New York voids HOA bans on solar power and EV charging. Real Property Law § 342 (Solar Rights Act) makes any restriction effectively prohibiting a solar system unenforceable and void…

New York's Electric Vehicle Rights Act, Real Property Law Article 9-D Section 343, bars homeowners' associations statewide from adopting rules that effectively prohibit or unreasonably…

New York Real Property Law Section 339-j strips condominium boards of managers of the power to enforce any by-law, rule, or resolution against a unit owner who displays a United States…

New York creates an assessment lien by statute only for condominiums. Real Property Law § 339-z gives the board of managers a lien on each unit for unpaid common charges that outranks…

New York condominiums have no inherent power to restrict unit leasing: under Real Property Law § 339-v(2)(a), by-laws "may also provide for" leasing restrictions only if the board…

New York lets you sell home-baked and other shelf-stable foods without a food processing license through the Department of Agriculture and Markets Home Processing exemption, which…

New York Social Services Law preempts municipalities from imposing additional licensing on family or group family day care homes and requires the Office of Children and Family Services…

No section of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law authorizes sobriety checkpoints by name. The practice rests on Court of Appeals case law, chiefly People v. Scott, applied against…

New York is one of the few states that put the right to record police into its own statute rather than leaving it to case law. Civil Rights Law § 79-p, headed "Recording certain…

New York has no stop-and-identify statute. Criminal Procedure Law § 140.50(1) lets a police officer who reasonably suspects a felony or a misdemeanor defined in the Penal Law stop you…

New York wrote an unusually specific rule into the Penal Law when it legalized adult-use cannabis: § 222.05(2) provides that no conduct made lawful by that section shall constitute the…

New York draws a hard line between a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle. A low-speed vehicle is defined by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 121-f as a limited use automobile with a maximum…

New York Vehicle and Traffic Law sets uniform definitions and removal procedures for abandoned vehicles statewide, governing how police and municipalities take custody of and dispose…

New York has adopted statewide building code and Public Service Commission rules governing EV charging installation, accessibility, and utility interconnection that apply uniformly to…

New Yorkers outside New York City who get towed or booted from a private lot rely on General Business Law 399-v, not a statewide rate cap. The law applies only to lots with capacity…

Before filing a nonpayment eviction, a New York landlord must serve a 14-day written rent demand under RPAPL Section 711. The demand requires, in the alternative, payment of rent or…

Real Property Law Section 235-b imposes an implied warranty of habitability in every residential lease. Premises must be fit for human habitation and free of conditions dangerous to…

New York's Good Cause Eviction Law (RPL Article 6-A) limits evictions and rent hikes for covered tenants in NYC by default, with optional adoption by other municipalities.

Real Property Law Section 238-a, added by the 2019 HSTPA, caps residential late fees at $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less, and bars any late fee until rent is more than…

To end a tenancy or decline to renew, a New York landlord must give written notice scaled to how long the tenant has lived in the unit under Real Property Law Section 226-c: 30 days…

New York requires advance written notice before a landlord raises rent 5% or more, or declines to renew a lease. The notice window scales with how long the tenant has lived in the…

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, New York landlords cannot collect a security deposit larger than one month's rent. Within 14 days after a tenant vacates…

New York's adverse possession period is 10 years of continuous, exclusive possession under RPAPL Sections 501 and 511. A 2024 budget amendment to RPAPL Section 711 clarified that…

Agriculture and Markets Law Article 25-AA governs certified agricultural districts statewide and limits how local zoning can apply to working farms inside them.

NY Agriculture and Markets Law §301-309 protects sound agricultural practices in certified Agricultural Districts from local ordinances and private nuisance suits. The Commissioner…

New York imposes state and local sales tax plus hotel-style occupancy taxes on short-term rentals statewide, and a 2024 registration law adds county-level registries and mandatory…

In New York, affixing a political sign, poster, or notice to property you neither own nor have permission to use, a utility pole, highway structure, or another person's land, is…

The New York Bag Waste Reduction Law (Environmental Conservation Law §27-2801, enacted 2019, enforced March 2020) bans most single-use plastic carryout bags statewide. Counties and…

New York prohibits the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene foam food containers and loose packing peanuts statewide under Environmental Conservation Law Article 27.

New York's Solar Rights Act, Real Property Law Article 9-C, section 342, voids any homeowners' association rule that effectively bans rooftop solar. A restriction counts as an illegal…

New York's Unified Solar Permit and Real Property Law section 342 limit how municipalities and HOAs may restrict residential solar installations, ensuring permit access statewide.

Hot tubs and spas in New York must meet Uniform Code barrier, electrical, and cover requirements, with public spas additionally regulated under the State Sanitary Code enforced by…

New York Public Health Law §1399-cc raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco and vapor products to 21 (Tobacco 21 Act, signed 2019). New York also bans the sale of all flavored vapor…

New York prohibits the sale of flavored vapor products statewide under Public Health Law § 1399-mm-1, allowing only tobacco-flavored e-liquid for legal retail sale.

New York's Solid Waste Management Act requires every municipality to adopt source separation recycling rules and bans certain recyclables from disposal statewide.

Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(41) governs every light added to a New York vehicle beyond the lamps the law already requires, and it opens with a near total prohibition: no light…

New York grants a dash cam no designated place on the windshield. Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(30) makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle with any object placed or hung in…

New York prohibits lane splitting outright. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1252(c) makes it illegal to operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of…

New York does not allow license plate covers of any kind. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 402(1)(b)(ii-a) states flatly that number plates shall not be covered by glass or any plastic…

New York does not ban radar detectors in private passenger cars. Vehicle and Traffic Law section 397-a prohibits using a radar or laser detector only in a motor vehicle with a gross…

New York allows studded snow tires, but only within a fixed season and only within precise dimensional limits. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375(35-a) makes it unlawful to drive a motor…

New York requires at least 70 percent light transmittance through the front windshield, both front side windows and the rear window under Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(12-a)(b)…