Laws against car dwelling? NY State

[CarCampire]

I'm trying to find where exactly it states that sleeping in your car in NY is illegal.

I know there are work around such as indecently laws (for getting dressed in your car = a misdemeanor), lots of street signs to prevent over night parking, the normal 'move your vehicle after 72 hours' rule and such but I can't find where exactly it states car dwelling is illegal.

Like, if I park in a 24 hour stores parking lot, without any time limit signs for less than 72 hours it sounds like it's legal.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

 

[djkeev]

Stores are private property, the owners can boot you out without giving it a second thought.

Dave

 

[CarCampire]

Alright- so state parks that are public property are essentially the only areas that don't have the work arounds... that also explains the emphasis on 'stealth boon docking' but what are regular streets considered? Are they not public property?

I am really just looking for where it spells out that sleeping in your car is illegal and im having trouble finding it.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Well, if you can't find any law making it illegal, maybe it's because it isn't.

In college, when doing library research, I was taught that the three questions to ask yourself were:

Who would know?

Who would care?

Who would care enough to write it down?

Based on those rules, I would try to find a homeless advocacy group in NY, or maybe a homeless rights legal project, or something similar, and call and ask them.  I'm sure they would know the answer to your question.

 

[Damian Rolling]

I take it you mean New York City (it would not be a state matter). 
  
I found a couple of dated articles about the legality of living in in a vehicle.

This one from 2013 says there does not appear to be laws about it in NYC:

http://therealdeal.com/2013/11/18/amid-sky-high-rents-some-new-yorkers-opt-for-rv-living/

This one also from 2013 indicates other laws could be used to address people living in vehicles (loitering):

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2013/08/is-it-legal-to-live-in-your-car.html

If it is specifically in the code, it would be here:

http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gate...tes$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:newyork_ny

But it might be easier to just contact the city law department and ask:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/law/html/contact/contact.shtml

There are also some NYC vandwellers who have blogs (too many to list here). Just do an internet search to find which are still active and ask them.

 

[DrJean]

While there may be some municipalities in FL that don't allow car dwelling, I cannot find where the State itself has that law.  In fact, a vagrancy law was struck down as the State tried to levy it against homeless....

and that's good because the vast majority of the homeless in Southern Florida (at least) are FAMILIES!  Children and a parent at least if not 2 parents....  They sleep in car or a tent, pack it up...drive the kiddoes to school, go to work, and reverse it at the end of the day... finding a favorite spot by one of the canals or rockpits to cook over campfire and wash up....  hard to find them in the lush brush during summer when "everyone" is outside BBQing but in the winter it's easy for the smoke from the campfires lofts into the clear cold skies.

 

[Damian Rolling]

I take it you mean New York City (it would not be a state matter). 
  
I found a couple of dated articles about the legality of living in in a vehicle.

This one from 2013 says there does not appear to be laws about it in NYC:

http://therealdeal.com/2013/11/18/amid-sky-high-rents-some-new-yorkers-opt-for-rv-living/

This one also from 2013 indicates other laws could be used to address people living in vehicles (loitering):

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2013/08/is-it-legal-to-live-in-your-car.html

If it is specifically in the code, it would be here:

http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gate...tes$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:newyork_ny

But it might be easier to just contact the city law department and ask:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/law/html/contact/contact.shtml

There are also some NYC vandwellers who have blogs (too many to list here). Just do an internet search to find which are still active and ask them.

My mistake - the thread title clear says "NY State." Regardless, maybe the information is of some use.

Damian

 

[djkeev]

Funny thing, for those that aren't from here, when one says NY the mind auromatically seems to jump to NYC.

Not unlike people thinking of Newark, Jersey City and the NJ Turnpike corrider when they Hear New Jersey. They overlook the vast areas of beautiful country side and ocean areas.

Not unlike Easterners hearing "Oregon" and thinking mainly of the lush mountainous forests and Rocky shores of the Pacific, not at all that a huge portion if the state is barren high desert.

Dave

 

[michaelc]

Stores are private property, the owners can boot you out without giving it a second thought.

Dave

Ask the owner or manager. Be polite and explain why you need a spot. Most Walmarts and many casinos are OK with it - but ask.

 

[michaelc]

Alright- so state parks that are public property are essentially the only areas that don't have the work arounds... that also explains the emphasis on 'stealth boon docking' but what are regular streets considered? Are they not public property?

I am really just looking for where it spells out that sleeping in your car is illegal and im having trouble finding it.

In small towns go ask the police - or do it and see if they tell you "move along".
State Parks make money off camping. State FORESTS and WILDLIFE, or WILDERNESS areas allow free camping if you follow a few simple rules. Google NY, DEC. One third of NY is protected forest, open for camping. There's 300,000 acres behind my house.

 

[TrainChaser]

The streets belong to the city; the public just pays for them.

The NY Bureau of State Land Management owns more than 780,000 acres. For a full listing of state-owned public lands, see http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/82098.html

 

[ColdBrook]

I would love to hear what you find out about the actual law.  I can tell you that as a teen I was shocked when we were camping in one of the NYstate "state" campgrounds, you couldn't sleep in your car or truck.  They came and threw out people sleeping in the back of their pickup truck with a cap over it.  They had an airmattress and sleeping bags and it was enclosed.  But the rules stated you couldn't sleep in a car or truck.  However if you had a tent in the campsite some family members could sleep in a vehicle then.  Two of us kids always slept in the back of our family station wagon, the tent was too crowded for all of us.  The rule made absolutely no sense to us.   I guess if your vehicle is legally a camper you are safe to sleep in it, but otherwise they can throw you out of the state campgrounds (unless that rule has changed sometime over the years since then).

 

[ColdBrook]

This is specific to NYCity- they don't have to post the parking rules on the streets.  We got three tickets for parking our truck (which has commercial plates but is our only private vehicle) over Christmas weekend 2 years ago.  There were no signs anywhere stating you can't park a commercial licensed vehicle on residential streets overnight.
All 3 tickets were written about 2pm on Sunday nite of Christmas weekend.  We were visiting our daughter and her family for a few days over the holiday weekend.    We didn't know about the tickets until they arrived in the mail a week or two later.  When we asked our daughter and son-in-law about it he knew about the law, but says it isn't posted anywhere, you are just supposed to know the laws if you visit the city.   
Laws like that are only meant to pad the pockets of the city.  To be honest my spouse sent in payment for the 3 tickets and added a note saying it was our only vehicle and we didn't use it for business but to pull our 5th wheel camper in the summertime.   He also added that we won't be visiting our daughter and her family again, and we won't be spending our hard earned money in NYCity ever again.  From now on they came come visit us and spend their money where we lived.    
We were shocked when a few months later we received checks in the full amount we had paid in.  They didn't even keep a processing fee.  Guess they want us to return and spend money in NYCity.  But we won't because we don't dare get more high priced parking tickets now that we know of their hidden parking laws. And our truck is too long to park in any paid garages in NYCity.

 

[DrJean]

My apologies also to the OP as I missed the "NY" state reference and took the thread OT about FL.

 

[Oswegatchie]

In small towns go ask the police - or do it and see if they tell you "move along".
State Parks make money off camping. State FORESTS and WILDLIFE, or WILDERNESS areas allow free camping if you follow a few simple rules. Google NY, DEC. One third of NY is protected forest, open for camping. There's 300,000 acres behind my house.

And there are 6 million plus acres in the Adirondacks, of which about half is state land and free for camping. We car camp all the time up there in many spots. I think DEC rules are 14 days too, just like out West, but not quite sure.

 

[USExplorer]

I don't believe any state, including NY, has a blanket prohibition on vehicle dwelling.

It is easy to find free camping in the Adirondacks and Catskills, though living up there is a tough life. In the winter, there is extreme cold and deep snow. In the spring, rain and mud, dreary days. In the summer, vicious swarms of blackflies and mosquitoes make outdoor life a living hell. August to October is the most pleasant time to car dwell up in that part of the country.

Elsewhere it is a matter of stealth. Local attitudes toward the practice vary widely, I'm sure.

 

[DrJean]

If what I know about counter-terrorism means anything in this situation.... with the new POTUS and the emphasis on removing the criminal elements from our country...well, I will simply keep all my "legal identification" papers complete with all licenses and insurances and registrations handy and be ready to say, "I'm sorry officer, did I do something wrong" to any law enforcement officer who is merely looking for some of those other elements.

 

[introverting]

I'm trying to find where exactly it states that sleeping in your car in NY is illegal.

I know there are work around such as indecently laws (for getting dressed in your car = a misdemeanor), lots of street signs to prevent over night parking, the normal 'move your vehicle after 72 hours' rule and such but I can't find where exactly it states car dwelling is illegal.

Like, if I park in a 24 hour stores parking lot, without any time limit signs for less than 72 hours it sounds like it's legal.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

I'd be willing to bet that NY state has their laws online.  There should be a link on the main site for the state somewhere.  For local codes, checkout this site:

www.municode.com/Library/

@USExplorer:  I don't know if there are state laws prohibiting it, but I do know that there may be local laws.  I believe Los Angeles had one but the courts struck it down as being discriminatory.