September 24, 2004
Selling The Hooch All Week Long
Amy Langfield uncovered this exciting news that got very little attention: Alcohol can now be sold at off-premise joints seven days a week! We had noticed it was easier for us to get some 40s from the local bodega, but who knew the wine store could be open too? Perfect for when you want to be a good guest at those Sunday evening dinners at someone else's we never get invited to.
Here's the NY State Liquor Authority on the change (note Sunday hours are 12PM to 9PM, but there may be room for interpretation). And here's Gothamist Food on wine.
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i was wondering - because i noticed my local store was open sunday but didn't say anything about being closed on another day of the week, which the last provision called for.
Liquor stores are actually upset about this. They don't want to be open 7 days a week and they don't like that their competition might be.
Jen, the 7 day rule is cool, but did you also notice the regulation about being able to take an unfinished bottle of wine with you after dinner (n.b., PDF file)?
This I like!
Aren't you late with this? I swear the law started sometime last year (used to work in the restaurant industry, so I knew all the food/alcohol gossip), but most shops opted to stay closed on Sundays because they were so used to it.
I noticed this at my local liquor store, as well. It's great that you can buy more than beer after 12pm and Long Island wine now.
Actually, the open Sunday liquor store thing has been around for a bit, but most liquor stores in NYC are still closed. I tried a few months ago to go to 4 in my neighborhood on a Sunday with no luck. So - I went online and found this: http://www.manhattanusersguide.com/archives_content.php?contentID=021804&category=food
There's a nice one in Williamsburg on the Graham Ave stop that's not listed.
Just to clarify, the law is indeed new and only went into effect in August. Wine Spectator just did a story on it yesterday. Here are the relvant grafs: New York had already passed a bill last year that permitted Sunday sales, as long as liquor stores closed on another day of the week. But that latter provision was difficult for the state liquor authority to verify. Plus another law prevented liquor store employees from entering the shops on days they were closed, making it difficult to meet with distributors, receive deliveries and perform other routine chores.
The new legislation, signed by Gov. George Pataki in August, allows stores to be open seven days a week and eases the restrictions on liquor store employees. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade association that lobbies for Sunday sales, liquor sales in New York increased 6 percent last year after the Sunday ban was lifted. "It makes good business sense to bring New York's spirits marketplace into the modern era, where Sunday is now the second busiest shopping day of the week," the council's president, Peter Cressy, said in a statement.