Street Activity Fees.
50 RCNY § 1-08
in effect§ 1-08 Street Activity Fees.
(a) Street activities that occupy one block for more than one day, a fee of thirty-five (35) dollars shall be charged for each day after the first day.
(b) All events except for block parties and any Press Conference/Rally/Stationary Demonstration are required to have liability insurance in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence naming the City of New York as an additional insured on such policy, unless otherwise determined by the director of SAPO as set forth in this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no insurance requirement shall be imposed for a Press Conference/Rally/Stationary Demonstration.
(1) The Director of SAPO shall have the authority to waive the insurance requirement where the Applicant is able to demonstrate that such insurance cannot be obtained without imposing an unreasonable hardship on the applicant. Any request for a waiver of the insurance requirement shall be included by the Applicant in the application submitted to SAPO. The burden of demonstrating unreasonable hardship shall be on the Applicant, and may be demonstrated by a showing that the cost of obtaining insurance for the street activity exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of the Applicant's anticipated revenue from the proposed event.
(i) If the Applicant has held the street activity in the preceding three (3) years, the anticipated revenue from the proposed street activity shall be presumed to equal or exceed the average of the revenue obtained by the Applicant in the preceding three (3) years.
(ii) If the applicant has held the street activity for fewer than three (3) years, the anticipated revenue from the proposed street activity shall be presumed to equal or exceed the average of the revenue obtained by the applicant or sponsor in any preceding years in which the event was held.
(iii) If the Applicant has not previously held the proposed event, the Director of SAPO shall take into consideration the Applicant's projections of anticipated revenue and the prior revenue of comparable events of similar size and duration in determining whether the cost of obtaining insurance exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of anticipated revenue.
(iv) In the event that the Director denies a waiver of the insurance requirement, the Applicant may appeal such denial.
(2) The Director of SAPO shall have the authority to increase the insurance requirement based on an assessment of the elements of the event in question and the risk such elements, taken individually or as a whole, could pose to event attendees. Elements that the Director shall consider in determining whether an increased risk poses include the following:
(i) the size of the event;
(ii) the availability of alcohol at the event;
(iii) whether pyrotechnics, amusement rides or similar elements are involved in the event; and,
(iv) any other element of the event that increases the risk of bodily injury or property damage.
(c) In addition to the application processing fees specified in this section, and subject to 50 RCNY § 1-08(f), the following Street event fees and Plaza event fees are hereby imposed upon holders of permits for the following types of street and Plaza activities:
Event Type Fee Deadline
Block Party $25 processing fee only 60 Days
Charitable Event 20% of the event fee charged based on the event size and location 30 Days
Civic Event $25 processing fee only 14 Days
Clean-up $25 processing fee only 60 Days
Day fee (as per 50 RCNY § 1-08(a)) $35 each day after the first day
Extra Large Event, Street or Plaza Up to $66,000 per location
Farmers Market $15 per day 60 Days
Health Fair $25 processing fee only 30 Days
Open Culture Event $25 processing fee only 15 Days
Plaza Event (Pedestrian plaza Level A) Fee per Plaza block $31,000 Large $15,500 Small or Medium 45 Days (1 Plaza block) 60 days (Multiple Plaza blocks)
Plaza Event (Pedestrian plaza Level B) MN Plaza Event Fees per Plaza block $20,000 Large $10,000 Medium $5,000 Small SI, QN, BX, BK Plaza Event Fees per Plaza block $8,000 Large $4,000 Medium $2,000 Small 30 Days (1 Plaza block) 45 days (Multiple Plaza blocks)
Plaza Event (Pedestrian plaza Level C) MN Plaza Event Fees per Plaza block $11,000 Large $5,500 Medium $2,500 Small SI, QN, BX, BK Plaza Event Fees per Plaza block $5,000 Large $2,500 Medium $1,000 Small 30 Days
Plaza Event (Pedestrian plaza Level D) MN Plaza Event Fees $2,500 Large $1,250 Medium or Small SI, QN, BX, BK Plaza $2,000 Large $1,000 Medium or Small 14 Days
Press Conference/ Rally / Stationary Demonstration $25 processing fee only 10 Days unless need for event could not be anticipated in advance
Production Event $290 (with curb lane or sidewalk) $700 (with curb lane and sidewalk) 10 Days
Street event Street event, Large $25,000 Street event, Medium $11,000 Street event, Small $3,100 45 Days 30 Days 14 Days
Street Fair 20% of the total fee paid by vendors to participate December 31st of the preceding year. Applications for 1 day/1 block, 90 days
(d) For a current listing of Pedestrian plazas by level category, please refer to: http://www1.nyc.gov/site/cecm/permitting/plazas.page.
(e) This schedule does not apply to the following:
(1) sites or events covered by a license, lease or third party agreement with the City of New York, unless otherwise provided by a rule issued by the licensor, leasing or contracting agency;
(2) City agency facilities, departmental or administrative offices;
(3) parades; or
(4) Pedestrian plaza partner events of a Pedestrian plaza partner programming a Pedestrian plaza pursuant to a contract or concession from the City if:
(i) such entity is the Applicant for the event;
(ii) the event furthers civic, cultural or charitable purposes or the marketing and promotion of local businesses generally or a neighborhood within the business improvement district or local community but does not promote a single or specified entities or businesses within the business improvement district or local community;
(iii) the Vendors and/or merchants donate their goods and services for the Plaza event, they receive no monetary compensation or other reimbursement for their participation; and
(iv) if tickets are sold, their sales benefit of the community and not a single entity.
(f) The Director of SAPO shall have the authority to require:
(1) 25% of the expected total street use fee due for street fairs be made no later than the Tuesday prior to the date of the street activity and that any amounts remaining owed to the City be paid no later than 30 days following the date of such activity.
(2) An independent audit for events with vendors where the applicant/sponsor pays a SAPO fee over $20,000.
(g) Fees under this section, with the exception of Production events shall be assessed on a daily basis. Production events shall be assessed fees on a daily basis up to a maximum of $1,000.
(h) The fees authorized by this section shall be in addition to any bonding requirement imposed by the Director or the Department of Sanitation or any other bond or fee imposed by any City agency.
(i) The Director of SAPO shall have the authority to require that full or partial payment of the fee be made prior to the date of the activity and to require that any amounts remaining owed to the City be paid within a specified period of time following the date of such activity.
(Amended City Record 8/19/2016, eff. 8/19/2016; amended City Record 3/1/2021, eff. 3/1/2021; amended City Record 12/1/2023, eff. 12/31/2023)
Source: City of New York, Charter, Administrative Code and Rules (American Legal Publishing XML export, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCrules/0-0-0-84731Fetched: 10/24/2026