2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 1 - Words and Phrases Defined › Article 1 - Words and Phrases Defined. › 155 - Traffic Infraction.

§  155.  Traffic  infraction.  The  violation of any provision of this
  chapter, except articles forty-seven and forty-eight,  or  of  any  law,
  ordinance,  order,  rule  or  regulation regulating traffic which is not
  declared by this chapter or other law of this state to be a  misdemeanor
  or  a  felony.  A  traffic  infraction is not a crime and the punishment
  imposed therefor shall not be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal
  punishment and shall not affect or impair the credibility as  a  witness
  or  otherwise  of any person convicted thereof. This definition shall be
  retroactive and shall  apply  to  all  acts  and  violations  heretofore
  committed  where such acts and violations would, if committed subsequent
  to the taking effect of this section, be included within the meaning  of
  the  term  "traffic  infraction"  as  herein  defined.  Except  in those
  portions  of  Suffolk  county  for  which  a  district  court  has  been
  established,  outside  of  cities  having  a population in excess of one
  million  in  which  administrative  tribunals   have   heretofore   been
  established, courts and judicial officers heretofore having jurisdiction
  over  such  violations shall continue to do so and for such purpose such
  violations shall be  deemed  misdemeanors  and  all  provisions  of  law
  relating  to misdemeanors except as provided in section eighteen hundred
  five of this chapter and except as herein otherwise  expressly  provided
  shall  apply  except  that  no  jury  trial shall be allowed for traffic
  infractions. In those portions of Suffolk county for  which  a  district
  court  has  been established and in cities having a population in excess
  of one million in which administrative tribunals  have  heretofore  been
  established,  the  criminal courts of such cities or portions of Suffolk
  county in which  a  district  court  has  been  established  shall  have
  jurisdiction  to  hear  and determine any complaint alleging a violation
  constituting a traffic infraction, except that administrative  tribunals
  heretofore  established  in such cities or portions of Suffolk county in
  which a district court has been established shall have  jurisdiction  to
  hear  and  determine  any  charge  of  an  offense  which  is  a traffic
  infraction, except parking, standing or stopping.  In  cities  having  a
  population  in  excess  of  two hundred thousand in which administrative
  tribunals have heretofore been established, and any such  administrative
  tribunal  established  by the city of Yonkers, the city of Peekskill, or
  the city of Syracuse, such tribunals shall have jurisdiction to hear and
  determine any charge of an offense  which  is  a  parking,  standing  or
  stopping violation. Any fine imposed by an administrative tribunal shall
  be  a  civil penalty. For purposes of arrest without a warrant, pursuant
  to article one hundred forty of the criminal procedure  law,  a  traffic
  infraction shall be deemed an offense.