Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules in New York (2026)

In Saratoga Springs, the abutting property owner must keep sidewalks, curbs, and gutters in good repair. The…

Albany City Code makes the owner of any house, building, or lot responsible for keeping the street and sidewalk in…

In Amherst, the owner or occupant of any property fronting a street must repair, keep safe and maintain the abutting…

Property owners in the Town of Babylon must keep the sidewalk and curb abutting their land in good, safe repair and are…

Buffalo puts sidewalk upkeep on the abutting property owner or occupant, not the city. Code section 413-48 requires…

Cheektowaga puts the duty to keep an abutting sidewalk in good repair on the owner and occupant jointly, and if they…

Clarkstown puts day-to-day sidewalk upkeep on the abutting property owner, tenant or occupant, who must keep it clean…

Glen Cove puts the burden of keeping abutting sidewalks safe on the property owner or occupant, not the City. Owners…

Greenburgh places both the repair duty and the legal liability for a public sidewalk on the abutting property owner…

In the unincorporated Town of Hempstead, the Town Board can order abutting property owners to build or repair sidewalks…

Town Code § 173-16 puts the job of repairing and maintaining a public sidewalk on whoever fronts or abuts it: the…

Islip Town Code makes the owner or occupant of the property fronting a sidewalk responsible for keeping it in good…

Property owners and lessees in Mount Vernon, not the City, are responsible for keeping the sidewalk in front of their…

Nassau County can force repair of a sidewalk or curb along a state highway or county road that runs outside any…

Under City Charter Section 197(a), the owner of every occupied or unoccupied lot in New Rochelle must keep the abutting…

New York City puts the cost and duty of fixing a defective abutting sidewalk on the property owner, not the city, once…

In the unincorporated Town of North Hempstead, the owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of a property must keep the…

In the City of Oneida, Madison County, New York, Charter § 6.1(B)(2)(a) puts sidewalk upkeep on the property owner, not…

Oyster Bay puts sidewalk upkeep on the abutting property owner, not the Town. Section 205-2 requires every owner…

Rochester places the duty to keep an adjoining public sidewalk in good repair on the abutting lot or building owner. If…

In Schenectady, the owner of land abutting a street must repair and maintain the adjoining public sidewalk, keep it…

Smithtown puts sidewalk upkeep on the abutting property, not the Town. Owners of commercial buildings and owners or…

Revised General Ordinances § 24-30 makes every abutting landowner responsible for the public sidewalk along their…

Every Yonkers property owner must keep the sidewalk in front of their lot in good repair and safe for public use, a…

In the Town of Colonie, sidewalk repair is a Highway Division job, not a property owner's. Section 34-5 assigns…

Nassau County law flatly bars donation and clothing drop-off bins from any public sidewalk, roadway, or right-of-way: a…

Albany requires a barricade permit from the Building Commissioner before anyone obstructs a street, sidewalk, driveway…

Cheektowaga bans placing a turn-off box, water meter, basketball hoop or any similar obstruction in the traveled part…

Glen Cove bans stoops, steps, fences, sheds, railings, balconies, bay windows and other structures from encroaching…

North Hempstead bars abutting owners, occupants and lessees from placing goods, merchandise, boxes or displays on a…

Sandwich board and A-frame signs are banned from every Saratoga Springs sidewalk and public way. The lone exception is…

Schenectady City Code makes it unlawful to encumber any sidewalk or street with merchandise, boxes, tables, chairs…

Amherst's zoning code limits how far businesses can push outdoor merchandise displays off their building wall, and…

Placing goods, merchandise, boxes, or display signs on a Town of Babylon sidewalk is prohibited except brief loading…

Brookhaven Code Section 38-4 makes it unlawful to do anything on a highway, street, sidewalk, sidepath or other public…

Buffalo makes it unlawful to willfully block any public street, crosswalk, or sidewalk, or the entrance to a church…

Clarkstown bars any encroachment or encumbrance on a sidewalk or street by stock, merchandise, produce, waste material…

Town Code § 63-7 bars clothing, donation and recycling bins from sidewalks and public rights-of-way, and requires at…

Greece licensed hawkers, peddlers and solicitors may not set up a booth or stand, or place barrels, boxes or crates, on…

Greenburgh keeps the first five feet of every shoulder or sidewalk strip, measured from the curb or edge of the…

Owners, occupants and lessees in unincorporated Hempstead cannot place goods, merchandise, boxes, display signs or…

Huntington's building code bars any part of a building, or an enlargement of one, from projecting past the street or…

In unincorporated Islip, owners, occupants or lessees of property fronting a street may not place goods, boxes, display…

Anyone who wants to obstruct, encumber or occupy a Mount Vernon street or sidewalk needs a written permit from the…

New Rochelle's Commissioner of Public Works can remove, or order the removal of, any vehicle, article or thing that…

New York City bars hanging or placing goods, wares, or merchandise more than three feet out or five feet high on a…

In the City of Oneida, Madison County, New York, no one may keep or place building materials in a public street…

Property owners, occupants, and lessees in unincorporated Oyster Bay can't block sidewalks with goods, merchandise…

In unincorporated Ramapo, no hedge, fence or wall over three feet can stand in the sight-triangle at a street corner…

Rochester bars placing materials, goods, equipment or machinery in the public right-of-way, including sidewalks…

Smithtown's core sidewalk-obstruction standard comes from its newsrack law: no newsrack, and by the same logic no…

Syracuse makes it an offense to place anything in a street or highway that obstructs or could obstruct free use of the…

Yonkers bars anyone from encumbering sidewalks, streets or public ways with goods, boxes, furniture or merchandise…

Albany requires a Commissioner of Public Works permit before attaching signs, booths, awnings, tanks, vaults, or…

Anyone opening or excavating a Town of Babylon street, road, or right-of-way needs a permit from the Commissioner of…

Anyone placing a private structure, like a planter, ramp, awning or sign, in Buffalo's public right-of-way needs an…

Anyone other than the Town itself needs a Department of Public Works permit before excavating, building a curb cut, or…

Building, obstructing, or blocking sight lines on Town land or a Town right-of-way is unlawful in Huntington unless…

Mount Vernon bans building into the City's right-of-way outright. City Code § 267-14.P allows only narrow exceptions…

New Rochelle bars any building or structure from encroaching on or projecting into a street, alley, park or other…

New York City requires a DOT-approved revocable consent before any private structure can occupy the public sidewalk or…

North Hempstead bans encumbering any sidewalk, street or public place in its unincorporated areas with buildings…

Placing a permanent structure in a City of Oneida street or highway right-of-way, other than a mailbox, requires a…

Yonkers prohibits any property owner from encroaching on a City street within the projection of their own lot lines to…

Anyone building a driveway or recessed parking area across a curb, sidewalk or shoulder on a Town highway in Amherst…

Brookhaven bars any structure or man-made object from encroaching on a Town right-of-way unless the Superintendent of…

Anyone excavating in a Cheektowaga town right-of-way needs written authorization from the Building and Plumbing…

Placing building material on a Clarkstown highway needs a permit from the Superintendent of Highways under § 250-2…

Anyone who wants to excavate, build in, or otherwise use a Glen Cove street, sidewalk or public place first needs…

Anyone who wants to dig, cut or otherwise disturb the surface of a Town of Greece highway right-of-way, including the…

Building a driveway or curb cut into the Town highway right-of-way requires a permit from the Highway Commissioner…

Before an Islip property owner builds, relays or repairs the sidewalk, curb or gutter fronting their lot, they must get…

County controls private construction, steps, railings, posts, or other structures, within a county road right-of-way…

Nobody, including utility and public service companies, can cut a curb, open a street, or excavate in an Oyster Bay…

Anyone building a marquee, awning, sidewalk cafe, foundation footing or other structure that extends into a Rochester…

Before cutting into a highway, sidewalk, pavement or curbing to build or connect to the county sewer system…

Schenectady requires a written City Engineer's license before anyone builds, alters or continues a vault or covered…

Private use of the Smithtown right-of-way that requires an encroachment easement, such as a structure or feature…

Syracuse will not let a contractor or property owner stack building materials in a city street, alley, or public square…