Election 2026

The November 3 election will reshape legislatures. Stay current on every seat, staff, and committee change with GovBuddy.

Stay Current
Home/Bills/S 222New York · 2025–2026 Legislative Session
Senate BillIntroduced

S 222: Provides that it shall be a class C felony to subject another person to physical contact that results in such person falling onto subway tracks.

New York · Senate · 2025–2026 Legislative Session · last verified January 8, 2026

What S 222 does, verified January 8, 2026

The Straphanger Protection Act aims to protect subway riders from physical harm. A new law, known as the Straphanger Protection Act, makes it a class C felony to assault a straphanger, which includes striking, shoving, or kicking someone who falls onto subway tracks. This law is intended to provide a safer environment for commuters and punish those who commit violent acts against subway riders. The law takes effect immediately and adds a new section to the penal law to specifically define and penalize assault on a straphanger.

Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO CODES (2026-01-07)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlock
Coauthors
George BorrelloPeter OberackerRobert OrttAlexis Weik
Recent actions2 total · showing 2
Jan. 07, 2026REFERRED TO CODES
Jan. 08, 2025REFERRED TO CODES
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 8, 2025 · 517 words
  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 222 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PALUMBO, BORRELLO, OBERACKER, ORTT, WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to assault on a straphanger The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "straphan- 2 ger protection act". 3 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 120.80 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 120.80 Assault on a straphanger. 6 A person is guilty of assault on a straphanger when such person 7 strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects another person to physical 8 contact that results in such person falling onto subway tracks. 9 Assault on a straphanger is a class C felony. 10 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 70.02 of the penal law, 11 as amended by chapter 94 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 (b) Class C violent felony offenses: an attempt to commit any of the 14 class B felonies set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision; aggra- 15 vated criminally negligent homicide as defined in section 125.11, aggra- 16 vated manslaughter in the second degree as defined in section 125.21, 17 aggravated sexual abuse in the second degree as defined in section 18 130.67, assault on a peace officer, police officer, firefighter or emer- 19 gency medical services professional as defined in section 120.08, 20 assault on a judge as defined in section 120.09, gang assault in the 21 second degree as defined in section 120.06, assault on a straphanger as 22 defined in section 120.80, strangulation in the first degree as defined 23 in section 121.13, aggravated strangulation as defined in section 24 121.13-a, burglary in the second degree as defined in section 140.25, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00642-01-5 

 S. 222 2 1 robbery in the second degree as defined in section 160.10, criminal 2 possession of a weapon in the second degree as defined in section 3 265.03, criminal use of a firearm in the second degree as defined in 4 section 265.08, criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree as 5 defined in section 265.12, criminal sale of a firearm with the aid of a 6 minor as defined in section 265.14, aggravated criminal possession of a 7 weapon as defined in section 265.19, soliciting or providing support for 8 an act of terrorism in the first degree as defined in section 490.15, 9 hindering prosecution of terrorism in the second degree as defined in 10 section 490.30, and criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biolog- 11 ical weapon in the third degree as defined in section 490.37. 12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Text of S 222 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions
GovBuddy Demo

See how GovBuddy fits your team.

Share a few details and our team will follow up with a focused walkthrough.