Legal Question in Environmental Law in New York

Re: Begging in New York

There are three relevant laws.

First, Penal Law � 240.35 Loitering.

A person is guilty of loitering when he:

1. Loiters, remains or wanders about in a public place for the purpose

of begging.

Loitering is a violation, i.e., a ticketable offense. Not arrestable (though they can take one down to the station house to receive a desk appearance ticket, but they cannot hold the person for more than a few hours.

Then we come to the New York City Law, including the �squeegee weevil� law, �10-136 of the Administrative Code. This is a long statute and puts me over the 3000 character limit; if you want the whole law, email me and I will reply with the text.

Violating this law is a misdemeanor, which means that the police can make arrests and put the arrestee �through the system.�

Finally, there is Arts & Cultural Affairs Law �35.07(c), which prohibits adults from using or permitting the use of children below the age of 16 years for various things, including begging.

You should not miss the fact that the police do not always stick to the niceties of the law when rousting the �two-legged cockroaches.� That�s their term, by the way. A good way to get to the bottom of this would be to spend a day at 110 Centre Street. Just leave the cameras home and park yourself in any �All Purpose� Part. You will get more material than you can use, especially once the lawyers and their clients find out who you are and what you�re up to. Just be prepared to hightail it onto the street if the scene starts to resemble the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon unless and until an attorney-client relationship is entered into. Doing so would require signing an engagement letter and depositing a retainer to secure payment of legal fees.