New York City Legalizes Jaywalking

New York City made jaywalking legal over the weekend, allowing pedestrians to cross the street outside crosswalks or against traffic lights.

The city council passed a law last month to allow jaywalking. After Mayor Eric Adams declined to either sign or veto the legislation within 30 days, it officially became law.

The law allows pedestrians to cross the street at any time and allows for crossing against traffic signals. However, it warns that pedestrians crossing outside a crosswalk do not have the right of way and should yield to other traffic that has the right of way.

Jaywalking laws were pushed by the auto industry in the 1930s as a way to keep people off the streets and make more room for vehicles, according to America Walks, a Seattle-based group that has tracked proposals to decriminalize jaywalking.

New York City had banned jaywalking since 1958 with the violation carrying a fine of up to $250 before the new law was passed.

Other cities such as Kansas City, Missouri and other states such as Denver, California, Nevada and Virginia have also decriminalized jaywalking in recent years, according to America Walks.

“Cities that really care about safety are focusing on street design, speeding and dangerously large vehicles,” Mike McGinn, America Walk’s executive director, told The Associated Press (AP). “Not jaywalking love.”

Racial Differences in Jaywalking

New York City Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, a Brooklyn Democrat who sponsored the new law, said Tuesday that legalizing jaywalking ends racial disparities in its enforcement. She said over 90 percent of the jaywalking tickets issued last year went to black and Latino people.

“Let’s be real, every New Yorker takes a ride. People are simply trying to get where they need to go,” she said in an email to the AP. “Laws that penalize ordinary behavior for everyday movement should not exist, especially when they unfairly affect communities of color.”

Narcisse said police officers she has spoken with say the time they spend issuing jaywalking tickets could be better spent on other police work.

“No one has ever said, ‘I’m so glad they caught that jaywalker.’ By removing these sanctions, we allow our police officers to focus on issues that really matter,” she said.

What has Mayor Adams said?

Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Adams, declined to elaborate on the mayor’s decision to allow the jaywalking law to become law without acting on it. However, she said the law makes it clear that crossing against traffic lights and in the middle of a block is extremely risky behavior and that people can still be held liable in civil cases for accidents caused by jaywalking.

“All road users are safer when everyone follows the rules of the road,” Garcia said in a statement, according to the AP. “We continue to encourage pedestrians to take advantage of safety mechanisms in place – such as daylighting, pedestrian islands and leading pedestrian intervals – when crossing a crosswalk with the walk signal.”

Urges NYC to ‘Proceed to Repeal Relic Laws’

The Legal Aid Society, a non-profit organization that offers free legal representation to New Yorkers who cannot afford a lawyer, said the new jaywalking law is long overdue. The organization said that for decades, police have used the violation as a pretext to stop, question and frisk residents, especially people of color.

“With this legislation now codified, we hope that both the Adams Administration and the City Council will continue to repeal relic laws that serve no public safety purpose and only trap people in the criminal justice system,” the Legal Aid Society said in a statement.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) declined to comment specifically on the new law, telling the AP on Wednesday that it will “continue, along with the NYC Department of Transportation, to work tirelessly to increase traffic safety and to prevent collisions, especially those that result in injury or death.”

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.