Special Event Permits

Online comments: 9

• Brandon Chamberlin

  I strongly oppose the proposed rule. NYPD overtime and staffing of special events should be reformed instead. Moreover, even if the number of special events is constrained by NYPD’s overtime policies, simply grandfathering in all events held in previous years and banning new events is the most ham-fisted approach to allocating scarce resources.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 12:14pm

• Anonymous

  This is an absurd proposal. The Park Dept is attempting to eliminate the ability hold special events in parks because the NYPD insists that so many cops are necessary for such events that they cannot safely protect the event. This is the same NYPD that has an annual budget larger than many countries’ militaries and that routinely spends hundreds of millions of dollars on overtime, now telling us we can’t have events in city parks because they don’t have the funds? Give me a break. Instead of prohibiting New Yorkers from celebrating in parks because the NYPD is crying broke, why don’t we figure out why the NYPD is spending so exorbitantly and deal with that instead.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 12:38pm

• Anonymous

  This should not pass – events are the lifeblood of the city, and new ones should be encouraged. Denying permitted events because of a lack of funding for over time is insane. The NYPD receives 10 billion dollars a year. Their budgetary and management issues shouldn’t negatively affect the public and various communities’ desire to hold events. The NYPD needs to be audited for overtime fraud. Their grift is now making NYC worst off in more ways than one can count. Find the money. Take it from their pensions. Hire less cops. Cancel the drone program. Fire all of the SRG officers.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 12:40pm

• Adam F

  If NYPD resourcing has become too expensive to have public events then we should find ways to remove the need for NYPD resources, not to deny permits for public events.

  Do not move forward with this change.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 12:47pm

• Christopher Volpe

  I strongly oppose this rule. The NYPD should be reformed heavily so that New Yorkers can enjoy our rich, diverse communities, and the events proposed by our communities, without having to waste taxpayer dollars on bloated NYPD spending. New Yorkers should not have to sacrifice our collective joy and activities because of frivolous NYPD staffing requirements.

  Look no further than the NY Knicks ticker tape parade, which wasted countless tax dollars on deploying 10,000 NYPD officers for a 7 block parade. It was wasteful, it was unnecessary, it caused more confusion than the safety it allegedly provided, and seemed to serve no real purpose other than enriching NYPD officers and their families at the expense of average NY tax payers.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 1:03pm

• Tyler Miller

  This is ridiculous. If the city cannot handle the volume of events that are requesting to be held, hire more people on whatever terms to ensure citizens requests are being seen, processed, and approved. The idea that an event must be at least one year old in order to be held again is crazy. Similarly, many events would likely do just fine without safety measures provided by the city. Simply empower citizens to handle their own safety, as block parties typically do.

  I stand strongly against denying events due to there being too much of a good thing in NYC.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 1:13pm

• Charles D Guthrie

  Please reduce NYPD staffing requirements so that we can have more event permits.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 3:14pm

• Mia

  This is ABSURD. Why should we stifle the life of NYC, the events and joy and shared joy of the city, because we are forced to pay for the bloat that is NYPD overtime? It’s ridiculous enough that the NYPD budget is so large, and it continuously harms this city— and now the harm has extended into the events that keep it alive.

  The Knicks Championship parade is a perfect example of the BLOAT of the NYPD. HUNDREDS of cops standing around doing nothing, getting paid by our tax dollars simply to end up being an EVENT GOER like the rest of it, on their phone, actively creating dangerous crowd rush situations by trapping people in subway situations because the event was “at capacity”, and more. I hope this proposal does NOT pass.

  Comment added June 24, 2026 5:41pm

• Anonymous

  The NYPD should staff all public events without being paid a cent of overtime. It’s their job. If they determine they don’t have the manpower to staff an event, then they are mismanaging their enormous budget. Just for example, it doesn’t take 10,000 cops to police a parade of any size, even one celebrating a basketball championship.

  Here’s a better idea than this ridiculous approach of letting the NYPD charge an extortionate fee – its amount determined at their sole discretion – to let any given event proceed:

  If the NYPD demands payment for community safety, something they already are supposed to provide as part of their 9 to 5,

  Then, open up the job of “policing” events to normal people, who will accept $20 / hour to do the same job of “standing around looking at stuff”

  If something bad happens, those people can call the police

  Comment added June 24, 2026 6:25pm