New York's system is built differently from Los Angeles. The Film Office (part of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, or MOME) charges a flat fee by time, not by location, and the permit brings free NYPD assistance and parking privileges with it. The hard parts are the paperwork details: an insurance certificate that matches your company name to the comma, a project date range you can't edit later, and one permit per shoot day.
I checked every rule and number here against MOME's pages on September 14, 2026. MOME revises its pages without much notice, so confirm on nyc.gov/mome before you file.
Whether you need a permit at all
MOME summarizes Sections 9-01 and 9-02 of its film permit rules this way. You do not need a permit if you are:
- using a handheld camera, a camera on a tripod, handheld props, or handheld equipment,
- not asserting exclusive use of city property,
- not using prop weapons, prop vehicles, stunts, or actors in police uniform, and
- not requesting parking privileges for production vehicles.
You must apply if you have equipment beyond that (MOME defines equipment as anything more than a handheld camera, camera on tripod, or handheld items like bounce boards and boom mics), production vehicles that need parking, exclusive use of city property, prop weapons, prop vehicles, police uniforms, stunts, or you need NYPD or FDNY assistance. Personal cars, minivans, SUVs, and pickups don't count as production vehicles for this test.
If you fall under the no-permit rules and want something to show a curious officer, MOME offers an optional Letter in Lieu of Permit. It's valid for 30 days and only for exterior city-owned property. The checklist is specific: the camera and gear stay in your hands or on a tripod, you keep at least 8 feet of sidewalk clear when the sidewalk is 16 feet wide or less (half the width when it's wider), you stay out of traffic and curb lanes, no non-handheld props including bicycles, no weapons, police uniforms, crime reenactments, effects, or drones. The letter says in capitals that it is not a permit and gives no parking. More on this in filming in public without a permit.
Insurance, down to the certificate boxes
This is where first-time applications stall. MOME requires commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, in the name of the entity applying. Its insurance page lists the rest:
| Requirement | What MOME asks for |
|---|---|
| Named insured | Must match the "Company Name" on the application exactly, including "LLC," "Corp," or "Inc" and punctuation |
| Policy form | Occurrence based, at least as broad as ISO CG 00 01 |
| Insurer rating | A.M. Best A-/VII or better (or the S&P, Moody's, or Fitch equivalents MOME lists) |
| Additional insured | The City of New York, including its officials and employees, at least as broad as ISO CG 20 26 or CG 20 12 |
| Description of Operations box | "The City of New York, including its officials and employees, is additional insured." |
| Certificate holder | c/o Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment |
| Coverage dates | Must include every date in your project application, or you send a new certificate at least 10 days before expiration |
Your broker or agent (not you) emails the ACORD 25 certificate of insurance, a signed certification of insurance broker or agent, and the additional insured endorsement to insurance@media.nyc.gov at least 48 hours before you file the project application. If the insurance isn't in MOME's system when you apply, the online application won't validate.
New York State law may also require workers' compensation and disability and paid family leave coverage, on the state forms MOME names (U-26.3 or C-105.2, and DB-120.1).
MOME can waive or modify the liability requirement for hardship. The page gives one way to show it: a letter explaining that the policy would cost more than 25 percent of the project's budget. Students use their school's coverage with a letter on school letterhead instead.
The fee, with the arithmetic
The fee is a non-refundable $500 for each consecutive 14-day period, or portion of one, counted from the start and end dates of your project's permit requests. Your project dates have to include rigging, de-rigging, and rain dates, and MOME's application instructions say you can't change them after submission. Adding dates later means a new project application and a new fee.
A 12-day indie feature shows how this plays out. The art department rigs a bodega on Monday, October 5, 2026. Principal photography runs through Friday, October 23, and the last de-rig is Monday, November 2.
- Project span: October 5 through November 2 is 29 days.
- 29 days = 14 + 14 + 1, so three periods.
- Fee: 3 x $500 = $1,500.
Had the producer ended the project on October 18, exactly 14 days, the fee would be $500, but the November de-rig would then need a new project and another $500. Pull the dates straight off the shooting schedule and add rigging and weather days before you apply.
If the fee is a real hardship, MOME reviews waiver requests case by case. Send a letter of intent, a project budget, and a budget narrative before you file, and allow up to three business days for a decision.
Deadlines
The pre-production page puts the application deadline at two business days before the shoot and says permits can be issued within 48 business hours. The application instructions say the office usually processes requests 72 to 48 business hours before the shoot day. Complex shoots that need special consideration from the NYPD Movie and TV Unit should be in three to four days ahead. Times Square needs seven business days.
MOME's student page adds times the other pages don't: the office issues permits Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., permits must be in by noon at least two business days before the shoot, and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday permits must be submitted by noon Thursday.
A pre-production meeting with the Film Office is required for features, TV movies, series and specials, elaborate exterior commercials, and music videos shooting exteriors with celebrities or at multiple locations. MOME recommends booking it three weeks before shooting, and it must be scheduled no later than five business days before.
How the online application is structured
Account, project, permit. A project is the production. Under it, you file a separate permit for each shoot day. A three-day commercial is three permits. If you shoot at several locations in one day, list each location separately in shooting order, and the shooting times between locations can't overlap by more than two hours.
Once submitted, a permit can't be edited. You retype the whole request with "revised" added to the name, and the office withdraws the original.
The scene description has to describe the physical action in every exterior, including props, number of extras, weapons, and animals. If you're inside and outside at one location, break out the hours. MOME's own example: "7am-2pm INT BAR: Various interior dialogue scenes. 2pm-8pm EXT BAR: Two actors walk and talk down sidewalk. They enter bar." List driving shots as their own location.
Parking only works if every vehicle is in the Vehicles tab on your first permit request, with plate numbers added by the first shoot date. With no vehicles listed, MOME removes the parking and approves the permit without it. If you base camp in one spot while shooting several locations, assign all parking to the last location and note "BASE CAMP: 6am-9pm" in the special request box.
What the permit gives you, and what it doesn't
Parking privileges cover vehicles essential to the shoot: equipment trucks, lifts, cranes, campers, and honeywagons. Crew and personal cars aren't covered, and a copy of the permit goes on each vehicle's dashboard. Any single vehicle over 35 feet long, 8 feet wide, or 13'6" high needs a separate oversized vehicle permit.
The NYPD Movie and TV Unit assigns officers at no charge, and you must request them for traffic control, prop firearms and weapons, or actors in police uniform on city property. Pyrotechnics, fire effects, explosions, and smoke effects need an FDNY inspection, permit, and supervision.
Some locations sit outside the MOME permit:
| Location | Who you deal with first |
|---|---|
| NYC parks | Parks Department approval before the MOME application (allow at least 48 hours for a park manager to respond) |
| Courthouses, Municipal Building, Borough Halls | DCAS permission, then a DCAS permit with a $3,200 administrative fee on top of the MOME fee |
| Subways, buses, trains | MTA, one to three weeks or more in advance |
| Airports, PATH, some bridges and tunnels | Port Authority |
| Drone take-off and landing | NYPD, in consultation with DOT |
Children under 18 working on a production need a New York State child performer permit from the Department of Labor.
Telling the neighbors
MOME's community page says that when you film in a residential neighborhood or business district, each merchant or neighbor directly affected by the company, including parking, base camps, and meal areas, gets notice at least 48 hours before filming. MOME's sample resident letter is the template. Your letter should carry the same specifics as the permit: dates, hours, which blocks lose parking, and a phone number that someone answers. The neighborhood notification entry has a sample.
MOME also points productions toward community boards, council offices, and business improvement districts. On a block that's been filmed three times this month, a call to the BID before you post signs saves grief.
Where this goes on the paperwork
The location manager files permits, but the permit's hours and vehicle list have to match the call sheet, because the NYPD Movie and TV Unit reads the permit, not your schedule. In Storiara, the call sheet for each day has fields for Basecamp, Crew Park, Tech Trucks, and Transport Notes that you fill in from the permit, and the call sheet goes out by email or a shared link. For the state tax credit, see the New York incentive page.