NYC moves to keep its ban on new multi-block street fairs through 2027, citing NYPD overtime
A proposed rule would let the city reject any new street fair longer than one block or one day unless it ran in 2026. A public hearing is set for Nov. 24.
Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
- The city's Street Activity Permit Office proposes extending its moratorium on new street fairs to calendar year 2027, at the NYPD's recommendation.
- It could deny permits for fairs longer than one block and one day that did not take place in 2026; fairs permitted in 2026 may be eligible again, and new one-block, one-day fairs are still accepted.
- The city says it permits more than 200 street fairs and over 5,000 other events a year, and that police staffing them drives up overtime.
- Critics, including Open Plans and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, say the ban, renewed every year since 2004, shuts out neighborhoods without a fair tradition (Gothamist).
- Written comments are due by 1 p.m. Nov. 23; the online hearing is Nov. 24 at 10 a.m.
New York City is moving to keep its long-running freeze on new street fairs for another year. A proposed rule from the Street Activity Permit Office, part of the Mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, would extend the moratorium through calendar year 2027, Gothamist reported Friday.
What the rule would do
- The city could deny permits for street fairs longer than one block and one day if the fair was not held in 2026.
- Fairs that got permits in 2026 may be eligible again in 2027.
- The office will still accept applications for new fairs of one block and one day or less.
In the official notice, the city says it issues permits to more than 200 street fairs and more than 5,000 other events each year, many spanning several blocks and days with structures, vending and amplified sound. Police must be on site, which the notice says pulls officers from regular assignments and "core crime fighting" and counterterrorism work and raises overtime. The NYPD recommended the extension.
The cost argument and the pushback
The moratorium dates to the years after 9/11 and has been renewed every year since 2004, Gothamist reported. Citing the city comptroller, Gothamist said NYPD overtime is projected at about $890 million in fiscal 2026, and that overtime for planned events, including parades and street fairs, rose from $97.1 million in fiscal 2023 to $115.7 million in fiscal 2025.
The advocacy group Open Plans told Gothamist the city spent $29.5 million on uniformed overtime for street fairs and parades, calling it "a drop in the bucket." Michael Hyatt of Meteor Festivals said merchant associations and business improvement districts want to organize fairs but can't, and Manhattan Chamber of Commerce president Jessica Walker said neighborhoods that have changed since the ban began have "no path to a fair of their own," suggesting the city map where fairs cluster and where they are missing.
How to weigh in
- Written comments: through the NYC Rules site or by email to saporules@cityhall.nyc.gov, by 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23.
- Online hearing: Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 10 a.m. Sign up to speak by email by 5 p.m. Nov. 23; speakers get up to three minutes.
- NYC Rules (Mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management)Extension of Street Fair Moratorium for Calendar Year 2027
- NYC Mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and ManagementNotice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules
- GothamistMamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
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