Hempstead, NY Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 128-43 of the Town Code, in Article III (Dumping of Refuse and Garbage), broadly prohibits any person, firm, association or corporation from throwing, casting, laying, burying or leaving refuse of nearly any kind on a vacant lot or plot, or on any street or road in the Town of Hempstead. The list of covered material is long and specific: ashes, offal, dead animals, vegetables, garbage, dross, cinders, shells, straw, shavings, paper, dirt, filth, broken glassware, crockery, bottles, domestic furniture, packing crates, metal, rubber, tires and abandoned vehicles are all named, alongside a catch-all for any other refuse or rubbish.

The law carves out one narrow exception: ashes or dirt may be deposited for filling-in purposes if the depositor first secures a permit from the department or bureau with jurisdiction over the site. Anyone who directs, allows or permits a servant, agent or employee to dump in violation of the section is treated the same as someone who dumps personally. Section 128-45 sets the penalty: any offense against Article III is an unclassified misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both, for each violation, a substantially higher penalty than the standard $500 fine that applies to most other Chapter 128 offenses.

Section 128-44 clarifies the article does not prohibit an otherwise licensed and authorized solid waste facility within the Town from accepting waste generated outside the Town, so the dumping ban targets illegal roadside and vacant-lot disposal rather than legitimate transfer-station operations.