Newly formed “leaf blower patrols” have led the city to dole out a record number of summons this year, new police data shows.
The targeted enforcement has caused the number of citations handed out by Rye police for gas-powered leaf blower violations to more than double compared to last year, from 111 to 267, according to department statistics.
Leaf blower noise is one of the leading complaints from residents that the police department receives, according to Public Safety Commissioner Michael Kopy. And with a new focus on cracking down on the prominent quality-of-life issue, Kopy said the Rye PD initiated dedicated leaf blower patrols earlier this year.
“When officers hear the noise, they investigate,” he told The Record.
The combination of noise complaints and ramped-up enforcement led to, what Kopy said, has been “the largest number of such tickets we’ve ever written.” And that’s backed up by the data.
March started a trend that showed a dramatic year-over-year jump in summonses – 13 more were issued that month compared to the same period in 2024. There were 37 additional leaf blower tickets handed out in April compared to that period last year, and May and June each saw spikes of 25 additional summonses, year-over-year, according to police data.
Not all complaints, however, lead to tickets, Kopy said. When police show up to issue a ticket, the landscapers are often “gone on arrival,” he added.
The city code restricts the use of gas-powered blowers to two “clean up seasons,” from Oct. 1 to Dec. 15 and March 1 to April 15. Electric leaf blowers, however, are allowed for year-round use.
Violations carry fines of $250 (first offense), $350 (second offense) and $1,500 (third offense).
But the complexity of the law, which only permits multiple gas-powered blowers in lots larger than one acre, often leads to confusion, the commissioner said. And some residents have complained about receiving summonses and then having to spend a lot of time in court resolving them.
The law could become even more stringent, but also end confusion by speeding up a transition to electric leaf blowers. Mayor-elect Josh Nathan and Councilman James Ward, both Democrats, are pushing to amend “the law to sunset the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.”
Nathan, who will be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026, expects the incoming City Council to take up the issue next year.
A full ban, if implemented, would thrust Rye into the company of the village of Scarsdale, Larchmont, and Mamaroneck, the town of Mamaroneck, and 160 cities across the U.S.
