6 Of The New Laws Taking Effect This Year In NYC

NEW YORK CITY — There are big changes ahead in 2025 for New York and dozens of new local laws and regulations that will impact New Yorkers' day-to-day lives.

New York legislators had a busy 2024, and the new laws truly run the gamut.

From capping insulin copays to outlawing restaurant reservation scalpers, and from raising the minimum wage to regulating broker fees for renters, here is a look at six of the most impactful new laws taking effect in 2025.

Drivers entering parts of Manhattan will have to pay a fee

Congestion pricing — the plan to charge drivers a fee for entering Manhattan below 60th Street — begins this Sunday at the stroke of midnight, after a year of challenges to the policy.

For the hours between 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, drivers will be charged $9 starting Jan. 5, MTA officials said. All other times, drivers will be charged $2.25.

However, drivers who earn less than $50,000 a year will get a 50 percent discount on every toll after the 10th toll each month, according to the MTA.

No more mandatory broker fees

The Fairness in Apartment Rentals Act shifts the responsibility of paying the broker — the liaison who shows the apartment and strikes a deal between the renter and the owner — to the person who hired the broker.

In other words, this new city law stops tenants from being forced to pay for a broker they didn't hire. The New York City Council passed it with a supermajority in mid-November, and it is set to take effect in June 2025.

“The era of the captive tenant may finally be over," Brooklyn Councilmember Chi Ossé, who sponsored the bill, said when it was passed.

It's now illegal to sell dinner reservations

In mid-December, Governor Kathy Hochul signed off on legislation that outlaws third-party services that book and sell restaurant reservations to exclusive places, calling the services "predatory" for making consumers pay extra for a table in demand.

According to reports, the market for these third-party services has taken off in the years after lockdown, with some tech-savvy table bookers making thousands of dollars off of reservations.

"In a time where cost of living is front of mind, this leech industry of reservation-stealing has had negative effects on small businesses, waitstaff, and consumers alike," Upper East Side Assemblymember Alex Bores, who co-sponsored the bill, said.

The law will take effect in February 2025.

The minimum wage has increased

At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, the city's minimum wage increased to $16.50 an hour.

Now, all tipped service employees must be paid at least $13.75 per hour with a $2.75 "tip credit," and all tipped food service workers must be paid at least $11.00 per hour with a $5.50 "tip credit" according to the city.

Pregnant people now get additional time off from work for appointments

On Jan. 1, a new law went into effect that allows privately employed pregnant people to get up to 20 hours of addition paid time off at work to go to prenatal appointments and any other medical care related to pregnancy, Hochul said.

"No pregnant New Yorker should have to choose between their paycheck and their checkups," Hochul wrote on X (formerly Twitter) when she announced the new law.

Hochul said the law is the first of its kind in the country.

Ban on co-pays for insulin

Insulin, the prescription drug that helps people manage their diabetes, is entirely covered by insurance statewide for most insurance plans.

Now, most insurance plans also must cover equipment and supplies for the treatment of diabetes, in addition to insulin, according to the state Department of Financial Services.

"Millions of New Yorkers rely on insulin to manage their diabetes," Hochul, who signed the law, wrote on X. "They shouldn’t have to struggle to afford the medication that keeps them alive."

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