New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Penal Law § 165.25 (2026)

Jostling

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NY-LEGnysenate.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§ 165.25 Jostling.
  A person is guilty of jostling when, in a public place, he
intentionally and unnecessarily:
  1. Places his hand in the proximity of a person's pocket or handbag;
or
  2. Jostles or crowds another person at a time when a third person's
hand is in the proximity of such person's pocket or handbag.
  Jostling is a class A misdemeanor.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases, 1984–2019 · leading case: People v. Nelson, 506 N.E.2d 907 (NY 1987).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

People v. Nelson, 506 N.E.2d 907 (NY 1987). · cites it 6× “, each of the defendants was charged with jostling (Penal Law § 165.25) * in Criminal Court informations.”

The People v. Mark Jurgins, 46 N.E.3d 1048 (NY 2015). · cites it 2× “The parties agree that a taking "by sudden or stealthy seizure or snatching" would not be considered a robbery or other felony in New York, inasmuch as it is akin to pickpocketing, or the crime of jostling, which is a misdemeanor in this state (see Penal Law § 165.25). However,…”

Jean-Baptiste Bado v. US (en banc), 186 A.3d 1243 (D.C. 2018). · cites it 2× “N.Y. PENAL LAW § 165.25 (McKinney 2016). Jostling is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by no more than one year in jail.”

People v. Ehinger, 152 A.D.2d 97 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989). “The statutory reference to "unnecessarily” was urged by defendant as having incorporated an unconstitutionally vague standard into the statute.”

People v. Diaz, 146 Misc. 2d 260 (N.Y. City Crim. Ct. 1990). “” And in People v Lynn ( 115 Misc 2d 76, 77 [App Term, 2d Dept 1982]), the court quoted the above language from Schmidt (supra) in concluding that as the crime of jostling (Penal Law § 165.25) is itself an inchoate theft offense, there is "no such crime as attempted jostling.”

People v. Knowles, 184 Misc. 2d 474 (2000). “*477 Failure to define every word in a criminal statute does not make the statute unconstitutionally vague (see, People v Nelson, 69 NY2d 302 [where the Court of Appeals held that the jostling statute, Penal Law § 165.25, was not void for vagueness even though the terms…”

In re Omar B., 30 A.D.3d 411 (N.Y. App. Div. 2006). “30 [5]), jostling (see Penal Law § 165.25 [1]), and menacing in the third degree (see Penal Law § 120.”

People v. McFarlan, 191 Misc. 2d 531 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2002). “Following the lineup, the defendant was charged with, and later indicted for jostling (Penal Law § 165.25) and other crimes. The People also introduced a printout of a computer generated photo array to show what Kordes had seen.”

United States Ex Rel. Hogan v. Bara, 578 F. Supp. 1075 (E.D.N.Y 1984). “40) and jostling (N.Y.Penal Law § 165.25). Petitioner was arraigned on January 18, 1977 and released on bail.”

In re Corey B., 129 A.D.2d 796 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987). · cites it 2× “The appellant’s challenge to the constitutionality of the jostling statute (see, Penal Law § 165.25 [1]) on the ground of vagueness has been recently rejected by the Court of Appeals in People v Nelson ( 69 NY2d 302 ).”

In re Shaheed W., 298 A.D.2d 204 (N.Y. App. Div. 2002). “Appellant also engaged in conduct that met the definition of jostling set forth in Penal Law § 165.25 (1). Concur — Nardelli, J.”

People v. Carrabotta, 2 Misc. 3d 685 (N.Y. City Crim. Ct. 2003). “Sometimes, however, the nature of the attempt is evinced by the broad and expansive attempt like language of the penal statute, as in the provision defining jostling, Penal Law § 165.25 (“when ... he intentionally and unnecessarily .”

Show all 18 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.