Penal Law § 270.10

Creating a hazard · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 270.10 Creating a hazard.

A person is guilty of creating a hazard when:

1. Having discarded in any place where it might attract children, a container which has a compartment of more than one and one-half cubic feet capacity and a door or lid which locks or fastens automatically when closed and which cannot easily be opened from the inside, he fails to remove the door, lid, locking or fastening device; or

2. Being the owner or otherwise having possession of property upon which an abandoned well or cesspool is located, he fails to cover the same with suitable protective construction.

Creating a hazard is a class B misdemeanor.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/270.10

In plain English

A person creates a hazard by:

(1) Discarding where children might be attracted a container larger than 1.5 cubic feet whose door or lid locks automatically and cannot easily be opened from inside, without removing the door, lid, lock, or fastener; or
(2) Owning or possessing property with an abandoned well or cesspool and failing to cover it with suitable protective construction. ★

Creating a hazard is a class B misdemeanor.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.