New York statute
N.Y. Penal Law § 165.16 — Unauthorized sale of certain transportation services
Current through 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17)
Part of Article 165: Other Offenses Relating to Theft, New York Penal Law.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of N.Y. Penal Law § 165.16
Statutory text current through the 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17). This publication reproduces the text of the Consolidated Laws of New York as provided by the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service (Legislative Bill Drafting Commission statutory text); it is not the official statutes of the State of New York.
165.16 Unauthorized sale of certain transportation services.
1. A person is guilty of unauthorized sale of certain transportation
services when, with intent to avoid payment by another person to the
metropolitan transportation authority, New York city transit authority
or a subsidiary or affiliate of either such authority of the lawful
charge for transportation services on a railroad, subway, bus or mass
transit service operated by either such authority or a subsidiary or
affiliate thereof, he or she, in exchange for value, sells access to
such transportation services to such person, without authorization,
through the use of an unlimited farecard or doctored farecard. This
section shall apply only to such sales that occur in a transportation
facility, as such term is defined in subdivision two of section 240.00
of this chapter, operated by such metropolitan transportation authority,
New York city transit authority or subsidiary or affiliate of such
authority, when public notice of the prohibitions of its section and the
exemptions thereto appears on the face of the farecard or is
conspicuously posted in transportation facilities operated by such
metropolitan transportation authority, New York city transit authority
or such subsidiary or affiliate of such authority.
2. It shall be a defense to a prosecution under this section that a
person, firm, partnership, corporation, or association: (a) selling a
farecard containing value, other than a doctored farecard, relinquished
all rights and privileges thereto upon consummation of the sale; or (b)
sold access to transportation services through the use of a farecard,
other than a doctored farecard, when such sale was made at the request
of the purchaser as an accommodation to the purchaser at a time when a
farecard was not immediately available to the purchaser, provided,
however, that the seller lawfully acquired the farecard and did not, by
means of an unlawful act, contribute to the circumstances that caused
the purchaser to make such request.
3. For purposes of this section:
(a) "farecard" means a value-based, magnetically encoded card
containing stored monetary value from which a specified amount of value
is deducted as payment of a fare;
(b) "unlimited farecard" means a farecard that is time-based,
magnetically encoded and which permits entrance an unlimited number of
times into facilities and conveyances for a specified period of time;
and
(c) "doctored farecard" means a farecard that has been bent or
manipulated or altered so as to facilitate a person's access to
transportation services without paying the lawful charge.
Unauthorized sale of transportation service is a class B misdemeanor.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
What class of misdemeanor is unauthorized sale of certain transportation services in New York?
Unauthorized sale of certain transportation services is a Class B Misdemeanor in New York under N.Y. Penal Law § 165.16.
Which New York statute covers unauthorized sale of certain transportation services?
Unauthorized sale of certain transportation services is governed by N.Y. Penal Law § 165.16 (Unauthorized sale of certain transportation services).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.