Conduct of Hearings.
38 RCNY § 10-05
in effect§ 10-05 Conduct of Hearings.
(a) General provisions. The Hearing Officer shall rule upon matters of procedure and introduction of evidence and shall conduct the hearing in such manner as will best serve the attainment of justice.
(1) Any person who is entitled to notice pursuant to these Regulations may appear and be heard in person or by a duly appointed representative and may produce, under oath, evidence relevant and material to the matter under consideration.
(2) Any such person may be represented by an attorney who is a member in good standing of the Bar of the State of New York.
(3) Any person desiring to subpoena a witness, document or other evidence may do so in the manner provided for in the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules. In appropriate instances the Hearing Officer can request the issuance of an administrative subpoena pursuant to § 14-137 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.
(4) Record. A record of all proceedings shall be made by either stenographic transcription or electronic recording device. Typewritten copies thereof may be ordered by the parties at their own cost.
(5) No ex parte communications relating to other than ministerial matters regarding a proceeding shall be received by a Hearing Officer.
(b) Evidence/proof. All parties have the right to call witnesses, to conduct examinations, including cross-examination, to present evidence, and to make objections, motions and arguments.
(1) Burden of proof. No public nuisance may be established except upon proof by a preponderance of the credible evidence. The Trial Attorney has the burden of proof in establishing that a public nuisance exists at the cited premises, but the proponent of any factual proposition will be required to sustain the burden of proof with respect thereto.
(2) Order of proof. The order of proof shall be as follows:
(i) testimony by the witness or witnesses in support of the existence of a public nuisance.
(ii) cross-examination of such witnesses;
(iii) testimony by the respondent(s) or their witnesses in defense and explanation; and
(iv) cross-examination of the respondent(s) and witnesses. The Hearing Officer may, in his discretion, change the order of proof where the circumstances so warrant.
(3) Objections to rulings of Hearing Officers. Objections may be taken to the rulings of the Hearing Officer by stating the reasons for such objections, but will not be deemed to have been made unless duly noted in the record.
(4) (i) Informality of rules of evidence. The rules of evidence governing proceedings in the courts of this State shall not be rigidly enforced in hearings before the Department. Unless objection is made and duly noted in the record, all evidence appearing in the record shall be deemed to have been validly introduced.
(ii) Cumulative evidence. The introduction of cumulative evidence shall be avoided and the Hearing Officer may curtail the testimony of any witness which is judged to be merely cumulative.
(iii) Reopening of hearing for presentation of new or additional evidence. Upon due application prior to the final determination, the hearing may be reopened for the presentation of new or additional evidence. The Department may, on its own motion, reopen a hearing for the presentation of additional evidence.
(5) Stipulations. Parties may, by agreement, stipulate as to any facts involved in the proceedings, provided that such stipulation is duly noted in the record.
(6) Oral arguments only before Hearing Officer. Oral argument may be made only before the Hearing Officer. Such oral argument may be curtailed or limited in the Hearing Officer's discretion and is to be included in the record.
(c) Motions and adjournment.
(1) Motion to dismiss. Motions to dismiss may be made at the option of the respondent or respondent's attorney, but are not required and will not be deemed to be necessary to protect any right of the respondent.
(2) Applications to adjourn. No application for adjournment of a hearing shall be granted except for good cause shown. If such adjournment is sought on the grounds that respondent's attorney is actually engaged in a court of record, an affidavit of actual engagement by such attorney must be presented.
(3) Imposition of penalty following application to adjourn. Upon granting any adjournment, the Hearing Officer may direct that the matter be set down peremptory against the respondent, in which event the respondent shall be notified that there shall be no further entitlement to any adjournment.
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/0-0-0-77840Fetched: 10/24/2026