Your car was towed in New York City: what it costs to get it back, and when to let it go
In New York City, who towed the car decides where it went and what you pay. The NYPD tows illegally parked cars to a tow pound in the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens, where a regular tow is $185 plus $20 a night as of November 7, 2026. The Sheriff and the city marshals tow cars that were booted for $350 or more in judgment debt, and the Department of Finance bills that tow on a separate table. This page lays out both routes, the pound addresses and hours, the auction clock, and what to do when the car is not worth the bill.
Sources re-checked .
Short answer
Find the car through the Department of Finance lookup or 311. An NYPD tow goes to the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens pound at $185 plus $20 a night; a Sheriff or marshal judgment tow is paid through the Department of Finance on its own fee table. Bring registration, license and insurance, clear judgment debt of $101 or more, then sell the car once it is home.
NYPD: Towed Vehicles; Department of Finance: Booting and towing
Three agencies tow in New York City, and the reason sets the route
The NYPD's towed-vehicles page opens with the point that matters most: "Cars may be towed for various reasons by several different government agencies, including the NYPD, the city marshall, and the sheriff."
NYPD tows. The Department of Finance says the NYPD towed your car if you were parked illegally or did not have valid registration or insurance. The NYPD's tow pound page lists traffic rules that get a car hooked, among others: double parking, parking in a bicycle lane, bus lane or bus stop, and no standing, no stopping or no parking zones. A car at no pound may have been stolen or relocated for a parade, demonstration or street fair; your precinct can tell you which.
Sheriff and City Marshal tows. These are judgment tows. The DOF can boot a car when the owner owes the City of New York $350 or more in parking or camera tickets in judgment, and may tow it if the debt is not paid within 48 hours of the boot, or at once when you owe $2,500 or more, the registration is not valid, or the car is a public safety issue. A Sheriff or marshal boot is painted green; an NYPD boot may be yellow or blue and means an immediate tow. The city pages do not cover tows ordered by a private garage or lot.
Source: NYPD: Towed Vehicles; NYPD: Tow Pounds; Department of Finance: Towed vehicles; Department of Finance: Booting and towing.
Where the car went: the three NYPD tow pounds
Use the Department of Finance's Find Towed Vehicle lookup or call 311; the DOF's towed-vehicles page says both work for every tow, though its booting page labels the lookup NYPD tows only. The NYPD says that "Vehicles that are illegally parked are usually taken to the Tow Pound in the same borough from which they were towed." The NYPD lists three pounds, so a car towed in Manhattan or Staten Island is held in another borough. As the NYPD publishes them:
- Bronx: 2444 Exterior Street, Bronx, NY 10468. Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. closed Sunday. 718-585-1385 or 718-585-1391.
- Brooklyn: Brooklyn Navy Yard, entrance at Sands Street and Navy Street. Open continuously from 7 a.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Sunday, then closed until 7 a.m. Monday. 718-237-3300.
- Queens: 31-22 College Point Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11354. Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. closed Sunday. 718-359-6200.
All three close on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, with no retrievals on those days. A car towed in an arrest or investigation is handled under the NYPD's Return of a Vehicle and Auto Pounds pages instead, and a Sheriff or marshal tow is paid through the DOF, which then tells you where to collect the car.
Source: NYPD: Tow Pounds; NYPD: Towed Vehicles; Department of Finance: Towed vehicles; Department of Finance: Find Towed Vehicle.
NYPD tow pound fees and what blocks a release
As of November 7, 2026, the NYPD lists a regular tow at $185.00, a heavy duty tow at $370.00, overnight storage at $20.00 and a boot at $185.00; the page carries no effective date. If the car is not redeemed on the day it was towed, $20 is added for each night it stays. The pound takes cash, a certified check payable to the New York City Police Department, a checking-account debit card, a money order, traveler's checks, and Discover, American Express, MasterCard and Visa credit cards, with the card in the name of the person collecting the car.
Two things the pound will not do. Parking tickets cannot be paid there: the ticket that caused the tow is paid or disputed with the Department of Finance within 30 days of the ticket date. And the car is not released while parking judgments stand against it. The DOF puts a number on that: you can collect the car without paying the violation itself unless you owe judgment debt of $101 or more, which must be paid or dismissed at a hearing first; you then get a clearance notice for the NYPD, and the tow fee still applies. Our parking tickets page explains how a ticket becomes a judgment. If the tow was for a DMV offense such as no valid registration or insurance, the DOF sends you to a business center with your license and the original title in your name, and the car stays put until both are valid.
Source: NYPD: Towed Vehicles; Department of Finance: Towed vehicles; Department of Finance: Booting and towing.
Sheriff and marshal judgment tows: the Department of Finance table
A judgment tow is billed by the Department of Finance, whose booting and towing page publishes two columns: vehicles booted on or before October 31, 2025, and vehicles booted on or after November 1, 2025. For a vehicle under 8,500 pounds in the newer column, read on November 7, 2026, the fees are a $185 boot fee, a $95 Sheriff/Marshal execution fee, a $220 tow fee, a $140 tow dispatch fee, and storage at $30 a day for the first three days and $50 a day after that. The older column for the same vehicle is $142, $95, $140, $70, and $10 a day for three days then $15; heavier vehicles pay more. The DOF also charges poundage of 5% of the sum it collects, fines, penalties, interest and fees included, and the judgment itself comes on top. Its table marks the tow and storage fees if applicable. The DOF's separate towed-vehicles page still shows lower figures, a $136 boot among them; the dated table is the one to budget from, and the calculator on this page uses it.
A judgment tow is paid through the Department of Finance, not at a pound: call (646) 517-1000 or visit a business center, bringing a notarized authorization and a certified copy of the title if the car is financed or leased. After paying in person, ask for the Vehicle Release Form; none is needed by phone. A judgment tow still under way is cancelled if the debt, poundage, execution and dispatch fee are paid on the Republic Immobilization Services portal before the tow is complete; an NYPD tow in progress is stopped by signing a Field Release Agreement and agreeing to pay within 30 days.
Source: Department of Finance: Booting and towing; Department of Finance: Towed vehicles.
What to bring, and who the pound will hand the keys to
At an NYPD pound bring the current registration certificate, a valid driver's license and the current insurance card. The NYPD releases a car only to the registered owner, the owner's spouse, or an authorized representative carrying the owner's written authorization with a notarized signature. That matters if you hoped a buyer could collect it: a buyer can take the car from the pound only as your representative, with that notarized letter.
For a tow after a DMV offense the DOF wants your license and the original title with your name on the front, or a notarized authorization from the titleholder plus the titleholder's license. If your registration was suspended for five summonses in judgment within 12 months and for nothing else, you may also need a DOF registration clearance, which certifies that you owe no parking debt so the New York DMV can issue or renew the registration in person. You can ask for a release of personal property such as luggage or a baby car seat, but tires, radios, batteries and other parts of the car cannot be removed, and a non-owner needs a notarized letter from the owner. You can request a hearing at any business center while the judgment is under one year old, and a tow refund is not automatic: mail a Parking/Camera Violations Refund Form with copies of your proof.
Source: NYPD: Towed Vehicles; Department of Finance: Towed vehicles; Department of Finance: Booting and towing.
The auction clock on an unclaimed car
A judgment tow has a short fuse. The DOF's towed-vehicles page says "If the vehicle is not retrieved within 72 hours, it may be auctioned off as soon as 10 days after the tow." Its booting page puts it in business days: "Towed vehicles are scheduled for sale at auction if they are not retrieved within 10 business days from the towing date." Storage runs while you decide, so ten days of delay on a small car adds $440 in storage alone on the current table, before poundage.
For a car at an NYPD pound, the NYPD's pages give no timeline for selling an unclaimed car. The NYPD does say it regularly holds online auctions through an outside auctioneer, Property Room, to dispose of seized and unclaimed property, vehicles included; it does not say when an unclaimed tow-pound car reaches that auction.
Source: Department of Finance: Towed vehicles; Department of Finance: Booting and towing; NYPD: Police Auction.
Selling a car that is sitting at the pound
Nothing on the NYPD or Department of Finance pages describes selling a car while it is impounded, and the NYPD's release rule explains why: the pound hands the car only to the owner, a spouse, or someone with the owner's notarized authorization. So the order in New York City is pay the bill, get the car released, then sell it. The partner buyer's online offer is free and carries no obligation, the buyer arranges and pays for pickup at a time that suits you, and a car that does not run can still get an offer once it is home. Our page on how the offer works covers the offer, the pickup and the check.
Run the numbers first. Add up the pound bill with the calculator on this page, then get the buyer's offer for the car as it sits; you have a week to accept, so you can hold it while you decide. If the bill is close to or above what the car would bring, read our junk car page before spending anything, and see plate surrender for what the New York DMV requires of the plates and insurance.
Source: NYPD: Towed Vehicles; The buyer: selling and free pickup; The buyer: a week to accept.
Towed-car questions
Can I get my car out of the NYPD tow pound if I still owe parking tickets?
Yes, unless the tickets are in judgment for $101 or more. The Department of Finance says you can retrieve the car without paying the violation itself, but judgment debt of $101 or more must be paid or dismissed first, and tickets cannot be paid at the pound. See the DOF booting and towing page.
How long before a towed car in NYC is sold at auction?
For a Sheriff or City Marshal judgment tow, the Department of Finance says a car not retrieved within 72 hours may be auctioned as soon as 10 days after the tow, and its booting page says auction is scheduled after 10 business days. The NYPD publishes no timeline for its tow pounds. Source: DOF towed vehicles.
Get it out, then get it sold
Pay the bill, get the car home, and get the offer. How the offer works explains the pickup and the check, and parking tickets explains the judgment debt that blocks a release. Questions about a towed car? Call (332) 456-9629.
Add up the pound bill before you go
Pick who towed the car, then enter how long it has been held. The total uses only the fees the NYPD and the Department of Finance publish, with the table each one comes from. The ticket or judgment that caused the tow is a separate bill and is not in this number.
A whole number from 0 to 365. For an NYPD tow, enter the nights the car is held; 0 if you redeem it the day it was towed. For a judgment tow, enter the days of storage the Department of Finance will charge.
The ticket that caused the tow, any judgment debt, and the Department of Finance's poundage of 5% of the sum it collects are extra and not counted here. The NYPD lists a $185.00 boot fee that is not added either.
Source: NYPD: Towed Vehicles (tow and overnight storage fees); Department of Finance: Booting and towing (Sheriff and marshal fee table by boot date and vehicle weight, poundage, auction after 10 business days).
More on selling a car in New York City
- PaperworkThe Transfer by Owner block, the MV-912 bill of sale, the DTF-802 tax form, the odometer and damage boxes, and the twelve state DMV offices in the five boroughs.
- Plates & insuranceWhy the plates come off before a New York City sale, how to surrender them by mail or at a borough DMV office, the FS-6T receipt, and the per-day penalty if the insurance ends first.
- InspectionWhether a New York City seller needs an inspection before a sale (no), the buyer's 10-day extension, the OBD II test and fees in the five boroughs, and selling a car that failed.
- Title problemsA lost New York title, a lender on it, a late parent's car, mismatched names or no proof at all: the DMV form and fee for each, and what the buyer accepts.
- Any conditionSelling a New York City car that will not start, was flooded or lost its catalytic converter: what the buyer takes, who pays the tow, and the title disclosure the DMV requires.
- Junk carWhat to do with a junk car in New York City: the partner buyer's free pickup, a DMV-licensed dismantler and form MV-907A, or a 311 derelict report, with plates off first.