FLIRTING WITH CANADA

Whale Watching in New Brunswick

Travel Alert 2026:

This Canada-flirting opportunity DOES NOT bring you into contact with US or Canadian customs

A few years ago I visited the International Peace Garden, which is open to Americans but part of it is in Manitoba.  I blogged about that.  Since then I’ve returned to the U.S.-Canadian border looking for other places along the US-Canada border where Americans are permitted inside a hermetically sealed little chunk of Canada.

Given the current repressive climate against PFR’s that has come to be known as the Epstein Shadow, combined with the violent climate against immigrants and others deemed suspicious at our borders, I now warn any current or formerly registered person against putting yourself in any situation where you might come into contact with U.S. Customs unless you have a valid passport in hand.

Fortunately, you won’t see any Customs or Border Control personnel while whale watching 10-15 miles into Canadian territory. Instead you’ll see whales.

One thing I want to make clear is that this is just a game.  Nobody is trying to sneak across the border.  I don’t even want to do that and it would violate the rules of the game – which are that it has to be a bona fide place where any American is allowed to be without a passport.  So let’s play the game:

From the 50 State Visitor Guide: Maine

M.R.S. 2019

Offenses committed before Jan. 1, 2013: M.R.S. 34A §§ 11201 through 11256

Offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2013: M.R.S. 34A §§ 11271 through 11304

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Convictions before Jan. 1, 2013:  Registrants have 5 days to register with the state Bureau of Identification (generally in writing) and 24 hours to register with local law enforcement using a form provided by the Bureau.  §§11222-11223.

Employees and students (and probably visitors) in the state must register with the bureau w/in 5 days and with local law enforcement w/in 24 hours of working for either (1) more than 14 consecutive days in the state, or (2) for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.  §11224.

Convictions on or after Jan. 1, 2013: Registrants have 3 days to register with the state Bureau of Identification (generally in writing) and 24 hours to register with local law enforcement upon establishing a residence, using a form provided by the Bureau.  §§11282-11284.  “Residence” means 14 consecutive days in the state, or 30 days in one year.  §11273(12).

Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Restriction on Contact with Minors:  For registrants convicted after June 30, 1992 of an offense against a person younger than 14, Maine prohibits the knowing initiation of contact with a person younger than 14 in a “sex offender restricted zone,” unless the parent consents or the contact is for employment purposes.  “Sex offender restricted zones” include schools other than high schools, day cares, parks, playgrounds, and other places “where children are the primary users.” M.R.S. § 17-A:261. 

Duration & updates:

10 years to life.  Duration of reg. requirement and frequency of updates are determined by date convicted and tier.  §§11222, 11285.

Eastport, ME Whale Watching Tour – July 2026

Flirt Rating – B+

It so happens that on my first trip to Maine in 2021 I had snagged a seat on a whale watching tour boat in Boothbay Harbor, which isn’t so far east of Portland, only to see no whales.  The silver lining was that the tour boat company issued “standby tickets” to all passengers, good through the end of the following season. 

Long story short I kept going back and back – but never saw a whale!  As a result I was returning to Maine every year, not seeing a whale, and never seeing much of Maine either!

While preparing for my July 2026 Maine trip I noticed on my Rand McNally map one of those little red boxes that denote a point of interest.  It was in the water, on the Canadian side of the international boundary (!) and it said:

“Largest Whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere”

WHOA !! What’s that ?! And I wonder if there’s a boat tour of it ??

When I searched for a tour I found Eastport Whale Watching Tours, wherein said whale watching is entirely in Canadian waters and includes a side trip to see the whirlpool.  Sign me up!

Whale Watching Boat

What is the Eastport Whale Watching Tour?

This tour is much different than the one in Boothbay Harbor.  That tour has a large boat (capacity 125) and they head out into the ocean, look around and come back.  This tour uses a much smaller boat (capacity 25) and never leaves intracoastal waters which are much more placid – see map.

The only tour offered was an afternoon tour leaving at 1:30.  Their website also offers sport fishing trips – presumably in the morning and also in Canadian waters – so if you’d rather fish than whale watch then give them a call (see phone number on boat photo).

First stop was the Largest Whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere.  NO, it’s not like the death-defying whirlpools in Pirates of the Caribbean or The Odyssey. Instead there is a large area of a cove in the bay where the water slowly circles around, and you can’t really see that from a small boat.

One of many whirlpools

However !! Around the perimeter of the large whirlpool, where the whirlpooling water rubs up against the surrounding non-whirlpooling water, it kicks up a bunch of smaller whirlpools that are really cool! See photo.  Note: I asked our tour guy what is the best tide to see these whirlpools and he said, incoming tide generally but peaking the last two hours before high tide. 

We were at about 4 hours before high tide, so good but not best viewing.  I feel lucky.  I assume they move the whirlpool around in the tour schedule so you see it at the best available time, but for best viewing you should consult a tide schedule before making your reservation.

East Quaddy Lighthouse - Note Canadian Insignia

Then it was off to see whales!  Looking at the map you will see the tour heads eastward about 10-15 miles in New Brunswick intracoastal waters until it comes to East Quaddy Lighthouse. Note that this lighthouse is at the tip of Campobello Island, which is Canadian.  I’ll get back to that later.  For now it’s enough to say we were surrounded pretty close on almost all sides by Canadian islands and mainland.

Canadian whale watching boats - Note flag on stern of boat at left.

Wouldn't it be cool to whale watch on a sailing boat?  Well you can't - it's based in New Brunswick.

When we got to the whale watching spot we were not alone.  Three other small boat whale watching tours – all Canadian – were plying the same waters.  I soon realized, these guys all know each other, they’re out here every day, they know where to look for the whales, and they’re on the radio with each other so if anybody spots a whale the other boats come running.  So in that way it was more like a whale chase than a whale watch.

Proof that I saw whales in Canadian waters

And YES we saw whales.  I myself saw several and managed to get a decent photo of one.  Also, the crew were not on any strict schedule.  The tour was scheduled as 1 1/2 hours, but as long as there were whales to be chased we chased them for almost an extra hour. 

Then one more pleasant surprise.  As the boat returned to shore they stopped at a couple of lobster traps they have in the water for just this purpose.  The tour guy pulled one out and gave a lobster talk – see photos.  You could never do such a thing on a big boat like at Boothbay Harbor.

Lobster talk

Verdict: Great Tour!  The fact that it’s all in Canadian waters is just the icing on the cake.

Other so-called “international” points of interest

Roosevelt-Campobello International Park – A total no-go. 

President Roosevelt had a summer home on Campobello Island, NB, just across the bridge from Lubec, ME.  This same island has the East Quaddy Lighthouse at the other end – see photo above.  Now the whole island  including the lighthouse is an “international park” focusing entirely on a US president, yet there’s no way to get there without a passport.  I asked the guy at the checkpoint (I walked up to it – didn’t drive!). No exceptions, no work-arounds.  What a bunch of dickheads.  As for Lubec, it’s quaint all right, but not prosperous.

St. Croix Island International Historic Park – Flirt Rating - F

The island is in the middle of the river but in Canada.  Too bad you can’t get to it.  On the US side there is a small display and an overlook.

Town of Calais – Quaint Rating – A;  Flirt Rating – D

If you want to see quaintness in a town that’s also big enough to have interesting stuff to see, try Calais.  The St. Croix River is small at this point, with just a two-lane bridge at the crossing, and there is a downtown riverfront park, so you can look longingly at New Brunswick if you like, but that doesn’t give it great flirt rating.  Note: Wabanaki Cultural Center.  I assume St. Stephen, NB is just as good, but we can’t go there.  Oh well!

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler

Maine

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

M.R.S. 2019

Offenses committed before Jan. 1, 2013: M.R.S. 34A §§ 11201 through 11256

Offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 2013: M.R.S. 34A §§ 11271 through 11304

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Convictions before Jan. 1, 2013:  Registrants have 5 days to register with the state Bureau of Identification (generally in writing) and 24 hours to register with local law enforcement using a form provided by the Bureau.  §§11222-11223.

Employees and students (and probably visitors) in the state must register with the bureau w/in 5 days and with local law enforcement w/in 24 hours of working for either (1) more than 14 consecutive days in the state, or (2) for an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year.  §11224.

Convictions on or after Jan. 1, 2013: Registrants have 3 days to register with the state Bureau of Identification (generally in writing) and 24 hours to register with local law enforcement upon establishing a residence, using a form provided by the Bureau.  §§11282-11284.  “Residence” means 14 consecutive days in the state, or 30 days in one year.  §11273(12).

Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Restriction on Contact with Minors:  For registrants convicted after June 30, 1992 of an offense against a person younger than 14, Maine prohibits the knowing initiation of contact with a person younger than 14 in a “sex offender restricted zone,” unless the parent consents or the contact is for employment purposes.  “Sex offender restricted zones” include schools other than high schools, day cares, parks, playgrounds, and other places “where children are the primary users.” M.R.S. § 17-A:261. 

Duration & updates:

10 years to life.  Duration of reg. requirement and frequency of updates are determined by date convicted and tier.  §§11222, 11285.

Most recent visit: May 2023

Required photo of Portland Head Light

Maine’s rules for visiting registrants shouldn’t be too difficult to follow.  Registration Triggers and Deadlines for convictions before January 1, 2013 are confusing to read, but the bottom line is they’re about the same as for on or after January 1, 2013.  Fourteen consecutive days or 30 days per calendar year establishes a “residence,” so just don’t stay that long.

As for presence restrictions, if your offense was against a person younger than 14 (and I would always assume that includes a pornography offense), Maine prohibits the knowing initiation of contact with a person younger than 14 in a “sex offender restricted zone,” unless the parent consents or the contact is for employment purposes.  “Sex offender restricted zones” are the usual places.  Stupid rule, but simple to follow.

As I read over these restrictions before entering Maine in July 2026, my reaction was, no problem.  I planned to be in Maine for five days (including partial days) with the intention for the first time to travel all the way up the rugged Maine seacoast to the last US town at the end – Eastport, ME. 

It so happens that on my first trip to Maine in 2021 I had snagged a seat on a whale watching tour boat in Boothbay Harbor, which isn’t so far east of Portland, only to see no whales.  The silver lining was that the tour boat company issued “standby tickets” to all passengers, good through the end of the following season. 

For most tourists this standby ticket would’ve been a pretty hollow promise because in the real world they’re never coming back.  But I go to New England every year to visit relatives, so I kept going back and back – but never saw a whale!  As a result I was returning to Maine every year and never seeing much of Maine!

This time would be different.  After a quick stop to take the required photo of Portland Head Light (see above) and my first night at nearby Bradbury Mountain St. Pk. (my favorite ME base of operations), on Day 2 I skipped over all of SW Maine, taking I-95 to Bangor, then Alt. US 1 to my first real destination:

Acadia National Park

Few people have heard of Acadia National Park, but many people have heard of Bahh Hahhbahh, the town next door to it.  The “maine” attraction at Acadia is its rugged seacoast.  See photos.  There are also trails, botanical gardens, a nature center and a scenic loop road.

Acadia National Park vistas

Down East Maine & the Bay of Fundi

From Bahh Hahhbahh I continued east on US 1 along Maine’s unbelievably scenic seacoast and small towns.  I had a reserved cabin that night at a small roadside motel.

Day 3 was to be my big day.  I had a reservation on a whale watching tour that would take me into Canadian waters (which I will report about separately), and I explored the farthest end of the US mainland.

I have been surprised to find how few people have heard of the Bay of Fundi.  Located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, its claim to fame is that it has the most extreme tides in the world!  I always thought you could only see this effect from the Canadian side, but it turns out that far eastern Maine has tides every bit as extreme!

 

Bay of Fundi - same location - low tide & high tide

It so happened that on my way to whale watch that morning was near low tide, and I got some pictures of how that looks.  Then on my way back to my campground that afternoon (Cobscook Bay St. Pk.) it was near high tide, and I was able to get some comparison pics so you can see the difference.

Reversing Falls - Not spectacular but look how low the tide is!

Reversing Falls isn’t a real waterfall. It’s a place where, at low tide, the outgoing water has to go over some rapids – see photo.  Then just after the tide turns, the incoming water goes over those same rapids in the opposite direction.

Returning to civilization I decided on the inland State Road 9 to Bangor.  Be advised – it’s remote but not scenic.  It’s a trucking highway.

Small Town Notes

Machias – Not quaint.  The so-named “Bad Little Falls” are a totally squandered opportunity right in the middle of town.  They could be the centerpiece of a fabulous central park and town square, but no – the town turns its back on them.

Bad Little Falls - a squandered opportunity

Lubec – It’s quaint all right, see photo, but not prosperous.

Eastport – Home of my whale watch tour.  Quaint and more prosperous.

Lubec                                            Eastport

Calais – Tadahhh !! If you want to see quaintness in a town that’s also big enough to have interesting stuff to see, try Calais.  Note: Wabanaki Cultural Center.  I assume St. Stephen, NB is just as good, but we can’t go there.  Oh well!

 

Downtown Calais                              Wabanaki Cultural Center

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler

 Massachusetts / Boston

Benjamin Franklin

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

A.L.M. G.L. 2019 Part I, Title II, Ch. 6, §§178C thru 178Q

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

2 days for initial registration by mail if moving to the state; 10 days for change of residence or employment address within the state. Those residing elsewhere but employed in the state must register w/in 2 days by mail. Those planning to work or attends college in the state must register 10 days before commencement by mail.

Visitors: Law requires registration of “secondary addresses,” defined as place of residence for 14 or more aggregate days in a calendar year, or a place routinely resided in for 4 or more consecutive or non-consecutive days per month. §178C.

Confirmed by Mass. SOR response letter (2020).

Per the MA SOR office this means you’re welcome to come for your vacation(s) of up to 14 days aggregate per year, but if you’re establishing a second address in MA then you have to register after 4 days.

Per Rolfe Survey, visiting registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED.  However, Tier 1 registrants are not placed on the public website. §178D(e).

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

None. 

Duration & updates:

20 years to life.  §178G. Annual updates: Unclassified & Tier 1 – mail;

Tiers 2 & 3 – in person. Homeless & shelters – every 30 days. §178E;§178F1/2

Most recent visit: July 2026

I stand corrected. 

After I posted about Massachusetts last year I received a message from a MA registrant providing corrected information about this state’s number of days rules for visitors.  Now that I’m updating Massachusetts again, I have highlighted the correct info in red text above.  This update will also appear on the updated 50 State Guide when I get it posted later this year.

Bottom line: You get 14 days for your Massachusetts vacation.  The statute says cumulative per calendar year but the new info implies MA SORB is treating it as consecutive.  However, as soon as you establish a permanent or seasonal address in MA you have four days to register. 

The bad news is that if you do wind up on Massachusetts’ registry they won’t take you off when you leave the state and it’s 20 years to life.  So be mindful of your time in Massachusetts, and document your whereabouts to be able to prove you haven’t overstayed your welcome.

The good news is that at least at the state level there are no residency or presence restrictions to be concerned about (although I do not know about local restrictions). So presumably when you visit Boston as I did again with my brother in early July 2026 you don’t constantly have to be looking over your shoulder to make sure you haven’t accidently walked into a park or library.

Two Pauls. One is Revered.

Here’s the problem with visiting Boston:  Your family is always going to want to walk the Freedom Trail.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great thing and everyone should do it, but whether your family tries it on their own or goes with a tour or on-off trolley it takes all day so you won’t see anything else.  In fact I have done this twice with my family and never gotten any further than the Old North Church. 

If you want to see any more of Boston than that it’ll take at least two days, probably three.  Plan your trip accordingly.

USS Constitution

July 2026 was the second year I used a trip to Boston as a way of separating a visit to my brother in Rhode Island into two less-than-24-hour pieces.  He goes along with it although sometimes I wonder what he really thinks about it.  This year he suggested a Boston Harbor tour, which I had never done before so I said let’s go.  Again we arrived in Boston by train and relied on transit or walking while there. See photos.  Afterward we tried to go to the New England Aquarium, but Oops!  Closed for the holiday on Friday July 3! 

Downtown Boston as seen from the harbor tour

Last year it was I who invited my brother on a trip to Boston, this time while my car was getting repaired in Rhode Island – “Just two old geezers, no wives or grandchildren, we don’t have to make anybody happy.”  Because he had accompanied my family on our previous Freedom Trail walk, I said, “And let’s skip that part of the Freedom Trail and see something else.”

We arrived in Boston by train and relied on transit while there.  Our first stop was the USS Constitution, which is on the part of the Freedom Trail you can never get to on the first day.  I’d never been there before and yes it’s great.  Then, however, I decided to walk to the Bunker Hill Monument and managed to go off-course by a few blocks.  It’s a monument, right? You’d think it would be easier to find but instead we wandered through Charlestown which I wanted to do anyway (maybe not my brother …).

Van Gogh self-portrait at the Museum of Fine Arts

Next stop Museum of Science.  It’s a must see museum but as with all science museums there a lot of school groups around and many of the exhibits are aimed at educating kids.  It’s a little too family friendly for me.  Then we took the subway to the Museum of Fine Arts which was having a Van Gogh exhibit.  By the end of that it was 5:00 and we two old geezers were beat.  We ate at the closest pizza joint and started our transit and train ride back to Rhode Island.

Which just goes to show – if the Freedom Trail is Day 1 and what we did was Day 2, there’s still a lot to see in Boston.  The harbor boat tour itself will take most of a day.  So plan your Boston vacation accordingly.

Previous visit: July 2022

I visited Boston with my family in July 2022.  On that morning my brother, whom I had stayed with overnight in Rhode Island, accompanied me to Boston, where we met up with the rest of my family and spent the day being tourists.  Boston is a great place to do that.

There is a parking garage underneath Boston Commons.  It’s expensive, true, but really convenient.  Instead of taking one of those expensive (up to $100 per person!) on-off tour trolleys I convinced my family to walk (most of) the Liberty Trail, which begins at the Boston Commons Visitor Center where we picked up a Liberty Trail guidebook.  Now we could just follow the red line and see every attraction any Boston tourist is supposed to see.

Italian pastry shop in Boston's North End

Quincy Market.  Faneuil Hall.  The Old North Church.  We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant in the North End as every tourist is supposed to, and bought cookies at an Italian pastry shop.  After lunch we all got on the Boston Subway at nearby Haymarket Station and went to see Harvard. 

My teenage granddaughters were especially excited to go see America’s oldest and most famous university.  It is a place with which, believe it or not, I am familiar, so I served as tour guide as we explored Harvard Yard and some of the educational buildings that surround it.  Then it was on to the Harvard Coop, which grandma had been talking up for days in advance.  She spent a fortune there on trinkets, T-shirts etc., and you will be as pleased as I was to know that the teens found books – yes books! – to suit their thirsty young minds.

Then it was back on the subway to return to Boston commons and our cars.  My brother continued on the subway to South Station where he got on a train to go back home to Rhode Island while the rest of us continued on to New Hampshire.

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler

Rhode Island

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

R.I. Gen. Laws 2019  §§11-37.1-1 through 11-37.1-20

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

24 hours for initial reg. and updates for all registrants who are moving to state, working in state, or are students.  §11-37.1-4. 

Statutes make no specific provision for visitors.  However, RI SOR office states thatvisitors in state for not more that 10 bus. days or two weeks (whichever comes first) must “check in” at local police department within 24 hours for “temporary registration” which does not go on the registry. Return to “check out” when departing the state.Also, there appears to be no limit on number of repeat visits per year.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Level 3 offenders barred from schools and parks. Level 3 also can’t reside within 1000 feet of a K-12 school. Note: this restriction was enjoined in 2015 pending a trial on the merits. Lawsuit still pending in 2020 & injunction still in place.

Other registrants including visitors – can’t reside within 300 feet of K-12 school.

Only Level 2&3 offenders are placed on the public website. §11-37.1-12.

Duration & updates:

10 years to life.  Updates: SVPs – quarterly.  All others – quarterly for first 2 years, then annual. §11-37.1-4.

Rhode Island - small but mighty cool to visit

Note – I am reposting my Rhode Island blog from last year (May 2025) because I visited my brother again this year, and because RI doesn’t get as much air time as it deserves, and because the RI part of last year’s visit was more interesting than this year.

Most recent visit: May 2025

Rhode Island has one of the shortest visitors grace periods of any state – just 24 hours!  However, when I conducted my first research for this travel blog in the summer of 2020 I called as many state SOR offices as would answer the phone to clarify what their policies actually were, and I found that Rhode Island is one of a handful of states that, by policy, claimed to treat a statutory very short visitor registration requirement as a “duty to check in” but holds registrant visitor information pending a commitment to depart within a specified time.

The friendly RI SOR office lady said 10 business days or two weeks, whichever comes first.  At departure she claimed it is discarded or filed without ever going on the registry.

The other states that have this type of “visitors’ registry” are Alaska, Nevada and South Dakota.  Aside from having a very short grace period these states also share another thing – their state laws compel the SOR office to remove people from their registries when they leave the state.  So the motivation for this visitors’ registry is work avoidance.  Why would the SOR bureaucrats want to go through the work of adding people to their registry, only to have to remove them a week later?

Dear friends: I agree with everyone who keeps cautioning me that you can’t take at face value anything that some random SOR office lady tells you on the phone.  I’m just reporting the news here.  And I can also tell you that when I called the RI SOR office back in the Spring of 2021 they gave me the same answer.

I can also now report that just a few days ago (in 2025) I spoke to a person who traveled to Rhode Island for about a week, went to the local sheriff’s department to register unaware of any visitors’ registry, but the sheriff’s department placed him on it anyway and told him, “No, you’re not going on our permanent registry.”  So folks, this must be a thing.

Although Rhode Island is a tiny state, the question of what their registration policy is concerns me more than it might the average registrant because I have a brother and sister-in-law living there.  I visit them once or twice per year but so far have kept my visits to less than 24 hours and never tested the visitors’ registry.

In May 2025 I was traveling in the Northeast and visited my brother and sister-in-law, crossing the Rhode Island state line from Connecticut at about 1:00 pm, visiting and staying the night.  Beforehand I had told my brother, “Hey, tell ya what.  Let’s you and me go to Boston the next day – just two old geezers, no wives or grandchildren, we don’t have to make anybody happy.” 

But you see, that meant we’d be leaving RI by mid-morning, thus stopping the RI clock several hours short of 24, only to be restarted at zero when we returned that evening because as noted above, there appears to be no limit on the number of repeat visits per year.  As long as I was out of Rhode Island sometime the following day it would again be less than 24 hours.

Interestingly, one of the things I wanted to get done while I was in Rhode Island was get my car’s wheel alignment worked on.  To do that we got up early on the day of our Boston trip, dropped the car off at a local Toyota service department and took a bus and train to Boston and back.  My brother dropped me off at Toyota the following morning, I picked up my car and left the state.

So my car was in Rhode Island for the entire time I was jumping in and out of the state.  That doesn’t count against me, right?

Previous visit: A walk through Downtown Providence – 2024

I haven’t posted about this trip before because it was part of the Epic Fail that was my 2024 Northeast US trip.  My car was in auto repair hell and I had to get it fixed and out of the state by noon the next day.

Providence's Canalscape

However, that evening my brother took me on a (way to long) walking tour of Downtown Providence, which is actually pretty nice.  They have an unpronounceable river/canal running through their downtown that they have canalscaped to great effect.

Now that I’ve promised to see more American cities I found some of the photos I took on that trip and here they are.  I told my brother that next time I come to Providence I’m going to see the sights and report on it like I have elsewhere.  Does he want to come with me?  Apparently not!

Previous visit: July 2022

In July 2022 my Rhode Island side trip was a little complicated but still didn’t test Rhode Island’s visitor registration policy. 

I was there to visit my brother & sister-in-law and to meet up with my own family who had spent the previous four days with my ex-inlaws on Long Island while I was having an epic fail trying to go whale watching in Maine.  We all met up at a very nice restaurant and had a family dinner and visited together.  Then I stayed the night at my brother’s house while the rest of the family stayed at a hotel (my ex-wife is allergic to cats).

The next morning my brother (but not my sister-in-law) accompanied me to Boston, where all of us met up again and spent the day being tourists (see my MA blog post).  Once that was over my brother got on a train to go back home to Rhode Island while the rest of us continued on to New Hampshire (my second time there, see my NH blog post).  As you can see, on this trip I spent less than 24 hours in Rhode Island. 

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler

New York City

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

N.Y. C.L.S. 2019Corrections §§168

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

10 calendar days for initial reg., after “establishing residency” (not defined), and for updates. §§168-f, 168-k.In-state workers required to register if present for more than 14 consecutive days or an aggregate period exceeding 30 days in a calendar year. §168-a.

Visitors: Per NY SOR office, 10 consecutive days or 14 per month. NOTE: Partial days count (except just passing through).  Procedure available for removal from registry after departure.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Certain laws may impose a 1,000 ft. residency restriction from schools and child care facilities for registrants on parole or probation.

Duration & updates:

20 years to life.Updates:L3 & “sexual predators” 90 days; all others annually.§168-h.

The Dakota, John Lennon's home in NYC

(note Central Park bike tour carriage on-street)

Most recent visit: July 2026

When I called the New York State SOR office in June 2020 and again in August 2023 here’s what they told me: visitors get 10 consecutive days or 14 per month before being required to register. Translation: like many other states, New York’s SOR office is simply applying their requirements for new residents and in-state workers to visitors too.  It also follows that if, like hundreds of thousands of others, you’re a New Jersey or Connecticut resident commuting daily to your job in New York, you’ll also have to register in New York.

The nice lady at the SOR office also said that partial days do count (except “just passing through”); e.g. if you’re staying in NJ or CT and making daily trips into NYC to see the sights or to work, each one of those trips will count toward your allowable total.

The good news for registered visitors is that, unless you are on parole or probation, there are no residency or presence restrictions.  How could you possibly keep track of or enforce such restrictions on visitors in a city like New York anyway?

For this post I have decided to separate New York City from New York State.  They are such different places that there can be different considerations visiting one vs. the other.  In preparing to write this post I asked Derek Logue of OnceFallen, who has been researching local registry requirements (see the link on my main page), about NYC.  He reports that, outside of probation or parole, this state does not have residency laws nor can municipalities pass such laws unless the state legislature allows them to, and they haven't done that yet.

Stop worrying! New York subways are perfectly safe.

You should not attempt to drive into New York City.  Instead, go to a convenient suburban train station, park there and take the train into town.  Once you’re there you can Uber around or use the subway as I did (seriously, folks, it’s perfectly safe although sometimes confusing).

In early July 2026, while visiting my sister-in-law in northern NJ, I spent a day in Manhattan with the idea of doing a couple of things that, even though I’ve been in and out of this region my whole life, I had never gotten around to before.

Ground Zero

My two objectives for the day were:  Go to the Statue of Liberty, and see a lot of Central Park (instead of just looking at it from the perimeter).  For the Statue of Liberty you can take a Parks Service concession boat ride from either Manhattan (Battery Park) or New Jersey (Hoboken). It first takes you to the Statue, where you stay as long as you want, and then to Ellis Island, same thing. From there you can either go back to the statue or back to your starting point.

I was coming by train from a station about 45 minutes from my sister-in-law’s house in far northern New Jersey, getting on a PATH train to the World Trade Center, and walking to the Battery Park terminal from there (it’s not that far).  I knew all that was gonna take a while so I made my boat reservation for 11:00 am, and that turned out perfect.  I saw both islands in a little over two hours, but I think most visitors would want to stay longer.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Visitors Center (with construction)

Upon returning to WTC Station, I took a subway up to the south end of Central Park.  It was 2:00 pm by now and I was starving, so I had a pastrami sandwich at a genuine NY Deli.  Upon entering the park I immediately saw a group of Central Park Bicycle Carriage Tour guys waiting to charge me a lot of money for a tour.  As cheap as I am I realized that was the way to go instead of just charging off blindly into the wilderness.  See photos.  I finished up around 4:30, at which point it was time to start home.

Central Park

Let me point out here how these time considerations can affect anyone visiting this vast city.  If I had chosen to stay in Manhattan instead of at my sister-in-law’s house, it would’ve been zillions of dollars per night.  On the other hand, I could’ve banged out at least four major destinations instead of the two I accomplished that day.  But that would only be the case if all destinations were in Manhattan.  Any destinations in other boroughs would add hours of travel time, as would trying to save hotel costs by staying e.g. in Brooklyn.

It really is a huge city.

On a previous trip to my sister-in-law’s house in New Jersey I again wanted to spend a day visiting a few sights in Manhattan.  It had been years, meaning since before I got arrested and went to prison.  I commuted to Hoboken on one of New Jersey’s many rail lines and took a PATH train to Lower Manhattan.  After disembarking at the World Trade Center I visited Ground Zero.  Then took a subway uptown to Times Square, which I took in while having a chili dog and a pretzel for lunch.  Hey, what else would you have in New York, right? 

Is this a dinosaur at the Museum of Natural History?

No! It's The Oculus across the street from Ground Zero!

I spent most of that afternoon at the Museum of Natural History, but also had time to walk the length of Manhattan’s Hi Line linear park.  Then it was back to Hoboken, where I ate dinner at a Cuban restaurant (again, what else, right?).  Then boarded my commuter train back to my brother’s house.

All together a great day in New York City and only used up one partial day with destinations.

Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler