N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Penal / PART Specific Offenses / TITLE Offenses Against Public Order, Public Sensibilities and the Right to Privacy / ARTICLE Offenses Against Public Order
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Penal Law § 240.25 (2026)

Harassment in the first degree

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 240.25 Harassment in the first degree.
  A person is guilty of harassment in the first degree when he or she
intentionally and repeatedly harasses another person by following such
person in or about a public place or places or by engaging in a course
of conduct or by repeatedly committing acts which places such person in
reasonable fear of physical injury.  This section shall not apply to
activities regulated by the national labor relations act, as amended,
the railway labor act, as amended, or the federal employment labor
management act, as amended.
  Harassment in the first degree is a class B misdemeanor.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 184 cases (17 in the last 5 years), 1970–2026 · leading case: People v. Dietze, 549 N.E.2d 1166 (N.Y. 1989).
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People v. Dietze, 549 N.E.2d 1166 (N.Y. 1989). · cites it 8× “Additionally, because the evidence presented was legally insufficient to support a conviction for a threat under Penal Law § 240.25 (1), the remainder of the information, charging defendant with violating that subdivision, must be dismissed as well.”
Brown v. State of New York, 674 N.E.2d 1129 (N.Y. 1996). · cites it 4× “on 42 USC 1985; Claim 7 — Racially motivated violation of article I, § 12 of the New York Constitution and New York Civil Rights Law § 8; Claim 8 — Racially motivated violation of article I, § 11 of the New York Constitution and New York Civil Rights Law § 40-c; Claim 9 —…”
State v. Burkert, 174 A.3d 987 (N.J. 2017). · cites it 2× “Dietze, the New York Court of Appeals declared a subsection of New York’s harassment statute, N.Y. Penal Law § 240.25 (2) (1988) (current version at N.”
People v. Stuart, 797 N.E.2d 28 (N.Y. 2003). · cites it 2× “45 [1], [2]) and one count of first-degree harassment (Penal Law § 240.25). Before trial, defendant moved to dismiss the fourth-degree stalking charges, claiming that Penal Law § 120.”
Liberman v. Gelstein, 605 N.E.2d 344 (N.Y. 1992). “2 Plaintiff claims these words falsely attributed to him the commission of the crime of harassment (see, Penal Law § 240.25; People v Dorns, 88 Mise 2d 1064 [threats to kill]).”
Caiozzo v. Koreman, 581 F.3d 63 (2d Cir. 2009). “N.Y. Penal Law § 240.25 . 3 . In the case of a state prisoner, it is the Eighth Amendment as applied to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
People v. Prisinzano, 170 Misc. 2d 525 (N.Y. City Crim. Ct. 1996). · cites it 4× “The defendant in Dietze was charged with harassment for threatening the complainant with physical injury or physical contact pursuant to Penal Law § 240.25 (former [l]). 4 The harassment charge was grounded in Dietze’s statement that he would "beat the crap *539 out of [the…”
Matter of David ZZ. v. Michael ZZ., 2017 NY Slip Op 4937 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). · cites it 2× “by engaging in a course of conduct or by repeatedly committing acts which placet ] such person in reasonable fear of physical injury” (Penal Law § 240.25). Harassment in the second degree requires that, “with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person .”
People v. Jackson, 967 N.E.2d 1160 (N.Y. 2012). “Similarly, were we to conclude that a highway is not a public place as long as an individual remains inside a private vehicle, then someone who engaged in harassment by slowly traveling alongside a pedestrian walking on a secluded public street, thereby placing that person in…”
People v. Golb, 15 N.E.3d 805 (N.Y. 2014). “In People v Dietze ( 75 NY2d 47 [1989]), this Court struck down a similar harassment statute, former Penal Law § 240.25, which prohibited the use of abusive or obscene language with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person.”
Marquardt v. Marquardt, 97 A.D.3d 1112 (N.Y. App. Div. 2012). · cites it 2× “*1113 Memorandum: Respondent wife appeals from an order of fact-finding and disposition in which Family Court concluded that she committed acts constituting the family offense of harassment in the first or second degree against petitioner husband (Family Ct Act § 812 [1]; Penal…”
People v. Malausky, 127 Misc. 2d 84 (1985). · cites it 5× “Having learned the above-stated facts, having heard the pedestrians describe their opinion that the driver had mistakenly believed them to be prostitutes and having listened to their feelings of indignation and resentment, Officer Iacutone apprehends and arrests the driver on…”
Show all 184 citing cases →
N.Y. Penal Law § 240.25(2): 1 case
State v. Burkert, 174 A.3d 987 (N.J. 2017). “Dietze, the New York Court of Appeals declared a subsection of New York’s harassment statute, N.Y. Penal Law § 240.25 (2) (1988) (current version at N.”
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