Top Pink Summons Offenses Identified and Explained
Important Update! The NYC Criminal Justice Reform Act, signed by Mayor DiBlasio on June 13, 2016, amends the laws regarding many of these offenses, not only in terms of their seriousness level, but also in terms of how they are addressed and where. Some of the more common summonses will now be heard in the OATH courts, instead of Criminal Court. While in theory a benefit, the truth is that it might not in the end make that much of a difference and might even be more expensive. Read more about the OATH summons system.
Police and other New York City law enforcement agencies issued more than half a million little pink summonses in 2009, according to the Criminal Court of the City of New York Annual Report. Although a wide range of offenses can be charged by way of these pink summonses, most of the offenses charged by way of pink summons are members of a fairly predictable set. As can be seen by the chart above (based on 2009 data from the Annual Report) by far and away the most common of all pink summonses is the Consumption of Alcohol on the Street Summons.
Click on an offense below for a more detailed explanation of the offense as well as to see for yourself the actual language of the law in question. (Or use the menu at left.)
Consumption of Alcohol on the Street
Operation of Motor Vehicle in Violation of Safety Rules
Failure to Comply with Sign in Park
Offensive Matter in Street (urinating in public)
Unlawfully in Park After Hours
Littering (liquids) (urinating in public)
Unlawful Possession of Marijuana