First, how many moving violations have you had within the past three years?

If you have a clean driving record, i would opt to attend the four hour defensive driving class. once you complete the four hours, your citation will be dismissed as though it never happened.

If you choose to pay the citation, your drivers license will receive two marks and your auto insurnce will fly into orbit.

Best choice is the defensive driving class. its not four hours of boring information. you will learn from it.

In NY, a violation involving a traffic signal, stop sign, or yield sign is 3 points (just like NH) though you can take a course to reduce your total.

In addition, NY has the Driver Responsibility Assessment so plan on paying that for the next 3 years; at least $100/year! I didn't find any specific fine, but I think that the DRA kind of makes it redundant; double jeopardy if you will.