DOT is the second biggest source of OATH cases. It is also where the most expensive assumption gets made.
People arrive expecting a chance to fix it. There isn’t one. DOT’s list has exactly two money columns, the fine and the no-show price. No third column for a certificate of correction. No deal. No half price. Fixing the problem after the summons is written does not reduce it.
The list is 34 RCNY § 3-01, last changed 29 March 2024 and unchanged since. Anything citing 48 RCNY for a DOT fine is out of date.
What comes up most
| Charge | Rule | Fine | If you don’t show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not following permit terms | AC § 19-102(ii) | $1,200 | $3,600 |
| Opening a street without a permit | AC § 19-102(i) | $1,500 | $5,000 |
| Same, on a protected street | AC § 19-102(i) | $1,800 | $5,000 |
| Either of those on a highway | AC § 19-102 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
| Blocking the street with materials or equipment | AC § 19-121(a) | $750 | $2,250 |
| Not restoring a cut in time | 34 RCNY § 2-11(e)(12)(x) | $800 | $2,400 |
| No permit to repair something on a CAR | 34 RCNY § 2-02(d)(2) | $500 | $1,500 |
| Not protesting a CAR in time | 34 RCNY § 2-02(d)(3) | $250 | $750 |
| Not repairing a street defect 12 inches out | 34 RCNY § 2-07(b)(2) | $750 | $2,250 |
| Plating and decking not fastened properly | 34 RCNY § 2-11(e)(10)(iii) | $1,200 | $3,600 |
| Not fully replacing a bad sidewalk flag | 34 RCNY § 2-09(f)(4)(viii) | $250 | $500 |
| Pedestrian ramp not built to spec | 34 RCNY § 2-09(f)(4)(xiv) | $1,500 | $4,500 |
| Closing a street without a permit | AC § 19-107 | $1,800 | $5,000 |
| Dumpster on the street without a permit | AC § 19-123 | $750 | $2,250 |
| Canopy over the sidewalk without a permit | AC § 19-124(a) | $100 | $300 |
| Vault opening left unprotected | AC § 19-119 | $250 | $750 |
| Permit not on site | AC § 19-108 | $50 | $75 |
Two habits to break when reading that.
The no-show price is not a multiple of the fine. Look it up. Never work it out. It runs three times on most street work rows, one and a half times on § 19-108, and exactly the same on every row that escalates.
Almost nothing escalates. Every street work row above is flat. There is no second offence price for any of them. Only about twenty rows escalate, and cafés are the ones most people meet.
The CAR, a window that closes before the summons
DOT’s correction tool is the Corrective Action Request. The whole point of it is that it comes instead of a summons, not after one.
- You have 30 days to do the work.
- You can protest within 14 days of the day it was mailed. Protest in time and win, and they waive the CAR fee.
- Lose the protest and the 30 days starts again from the day you were refused.
- A priority CAR, for something dangerous, needs action within three hours, by phone.
Miss either deadline and that is its own charge. Both of them are in the top five most-issued charges DOT writes. Not getting the permit to repair a CAR condition is $500. Not protesting in time is $250.
Sidewalk and roadway cafés, and the trap
Cafés stopped being a Consumer and Worker Protection matter on 3 March 2024. DOT’s Dining Out NYC rules took over and the old café rules were thrown out.
You now need both a licence and a revocable consent. Not one or the other. Roadway cafés cannot operate from 30 November through 31 March.
| Charge | Rule | First | Second and after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Running a café without a licence and consent | 34 RCNY § 5-02(a) | $500 | $1,000 |
| Not following café operating rules | 34 RCNY § 5-10 | $200 | $500 |
| Not following café design rules | 34 RCNY § 5-11 | $200 | $500 |
Do not argue about how long ago the last one was. DOT normally counts a second offence as one within six months. But that only applies “except as otherwise noted or provided in the relevant rule or law,” and for cafés the law does provide otherwise.
Administrative Code § 19-150(b)(1) counts repeats at “the same place of business,” with no time limit at all. A violation from two years ago still makes this one a second offence.
The argument that works is a different one. Was the earlier violation at the same location? That matters if you run more than one.
Three more café facts:
- A first-violation CAR is required. The Commissioner shall issue one and shall give you 30 days and a chance to protest. If DOT wrote you a first café summons without a CAR first, that is a mistake worth raising.
- They can take your licence after three violations of the same rule in two years, or any six violations in two years. They have to give 30 days notice first.
- A real defence exists. They must waive the revocation if you can show the people who broke the rules acted against your instructions.
Furniture the city removes is not released until you pay or bond a $2,500 removal and storage charge.
A sidewalk violation order is not a summons
This one sends people to the wrong place entirely.
A § 19-152 sidewalk violation order is not an OATH matter. It goes to the property owner with at least 75 days to comply. If the work is not done, DOT does it and bills the cost as a lien on your property, plus admin costs capped at 20%. You challenge it by filing a notice of claim with the Comptroller and then a petition. Not at a hearing.
One line in that rule is worth knowing before you pay anyone. You are only responsible for the cost of the flags DOT actually ordered fixed, “not an entire sidewalk if the entire sidewalk lacks defects.”
If you brought us one of these, you have a title problem, not a hearing.
Who pays
Administrative Code § 19-150(a) reaches “any person who violates … or who causes, authorizes or permits such violation.”
That is deliberately wide. The property owner, the permit holder and the contractor can all be named on the same problem. It also says that while a violation continues, each day is its own offence.
That covers the street work and café charges, which is most of this page. It does not cover the bicycle, sidewalk riding, leaving the scene or ATV rows that also sit on DOT’s list. We will not tell you who pays one of those without checking that chain first.
Also on this list
Two rows that surprise people, both with real escalation. Parking a tractor-trailer on a residential street runs $400 first, $800 on a repeat. Riding an ATV in the city runs $500 then $1,000, and the repeat price applies no matter how long ago the first one was.
Truck route and oversize or overweight violations are not on this list. We searched all of it. If someone quotes you a DOT figure for one of those, ask which row it came from.
One thing coming
A big rewrite of § 3-01 is pending. Public comment closed on 9 March 2026 and it has not been adopted. Every figure here is the rule in force today. If your hearing is months away, it is worth checking again.