My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
I am from New Jersey and I was visiting my boyfriend in New York. We were sitting in his car in a parking lot of a park after dark, not realizing that the park had a sign that said it closed at 10pm. We were there around 1:30am and a police car drove by and saw us sitting there. They stopped by and came to talk to us, eventually issuing us each a ticket for being in the park after hours. The officer said it is a civil issue, not criminal, but we need to go to court. Does anyone know if it is possible for me, being that I live fairly far from where this happened, to pay a fine for this without having to appear in court? The ticket did not list a fine, just a court date. Also, if I do need to go to court, can someone give me an idea as to what is going to happen there? I have never been to court before, and I know this is not a major issue, but I do not know what to expect.

