DWI Defense Across New York City & Long Island

A DWI is defended where it is charged, and each county has its own courthouse, its own District Attorney and its own way of handling cases. Jonathan Kaye is a former Assistant District Attorney who defends DWI and DUI charges across all five boroughs of New York City and in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, from one office on Bell Boulevard in Bayside, right at the Queens and Nassau line.

Wherever the arrest happened, the terms are the same: a flat $1,500 legal fee for a misdemeanor DWI, a lawyer who answers his own phone 24/7, and no hand-off to an associate. Find your area below.

New York City and Long Island DWI courts

Which court will hear your case?

Three rules cover almost every case:

1. The arrest location decides the county, not your home address. A Nassau resident arrested on the Grand Central Parkway goes to court in Queens.
2. Misdemeanors and felonies start in different courts. A first DWI with no injuries is a misdemeanor and stays in the criminal court or district court. A felony, such as a DWI with a prior conviction within ten years, a child 15 or younger in the car, or a crash with serious injury or death, is indicted and moves to the county's supreme or county court.
3. The paperwork tells you. The court and your first date are on the papers you were given when you were released. If the case has not been arraigned yet, the arraignment happens in the county of the arrest, usually within about 24 hours.

The police agency does not change the court. Arrests by the NYPD, State Police, Nassau or Suffolk police, or a town or village department all go to the court for the place of arrest.

What changes between the city and Long Island

Arrest rates from New York State DCJS county arrest data for 2025, all police agencies, using 2020 Census population.

The law itself is the same everywhere in the state: DWI at .08, aggravated DWI at .18, DWAI as a traffic infraction, and felony charges for repeat offenses, Leandra's Law and crashes with serious injury. See misdemeanor DWI penalties, felony DWI, and the New York City overview.

DWI cases in the news, by area

27 real, public cases from across the region, each written up in full with the charges, what they mean under New York law, and how it ended or where it stands. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt, and every person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

More on our DWI cases in the news page.

One office for the whole region

Jonathan's office is at 35-16 Bell Boulevard, Suite 201, in Bayside, a few miles from the Nassau line and close to the Cross Island Parkway, the Long Island Expressway and the Clearview. That puts the Kew Gardens, Hempstead and Central Islip courts within reach of the same office, and the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island courts a drive or a train ride away.

Areas we serve: questions