As of April 12, the city had received 316 complaints of public urination, up from 214 during the same period last year \u2014 a 47.7% increase.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Ironically, complaints of public drinking have significantly decreased<\/a> by nearly 17% during the same period, from 685 in 2025 to 570 this year.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, it is unclear how many summonses police issued in response to the influx of complaints about public urination. When amNewYork contacted the NYPD\u2019s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information to inquire about the number of summonses issued for the offense this year, the response was, \u201cdata will be posted when it becomes available.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Police treat most public urination charges as non-criminal administrative code violations that are typically handled with criminal court summonses. Violators usually are charged a $50 fine, according to the New York State Unified Court System<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While urinating in public is usually not a crime, it can have detrimental quality-of-life effects for society, some experts have said. It can create odorous conditions in alleyways, under overpasses, in train hubs, and near buildings\u2014anywhere that attracts quick bladder relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n Calls for relief<\/p>\n Coinciding with the increased number of complaints about the issue, some New York politicians are calling for more action from the local government. Brooklyn Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny has a bill in the state legislature<\/a> that would increase penalties to up to $500 for public urination or defecation in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, City Council Member Joann Ariola, also from Queens and on the Council Health Committee, told amNewYork that a minor ticket is not enough to deter people from relieving themselves in public.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe only way to bring this situation under control is to move public urination back to being a criminal offense rather than a civil infraction,\u201d Ariola said. \u201cThese offenders are exposing themselves in public and creating health hazards, and they\u2019re only getting a slap on the wrist ticket, if they get anything at all, if they get caught.\u201d<\/p>\n Public urination was not always considered a minor offense. In 2015, the NYPD issued over 150,000 criminal summonses for offenses such as public urination, littering and unreasonable noise. Nearly 20,000 people that year received criminal summonses for public urination alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n NYC Council members at the time felt the punishments did not fit the crimes, leading to the city\u2019s Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2016, which began sending cases, including public urination, to civil rather than criminal court.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ariola suggested turning back the clock to curb street urination.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely unacceptable,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need the laws on public urination to go back to where they were pre-2017, when the police were able to hold offenders criminally liable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Queens City Council Member Lynn Schulman, who chairs the council\u2019s Health Committee, declined to comment on this story.\n<\/p>\n The city responds to the bathroom crisis<\/p>\n![\"man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/public-urination-getty.jpg\" "\\"Flow")
More New Yorkers are apparently having a hard time holding it in, according to the latest data on public urination.Photo via Getty Images<\/p>\n