Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Stoop Drinking Case Swept Under Rug
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 18, 2009
Modified Feb 18, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Kimber VanRy's name will surely go down in Brownstone Brooklyn history. After getting busted for drinking a Sierra Nevada on his own Sterling Place stoop last August, he stood up to the long arm of the law, and the law didn't win. Sadly, no one really won. The Brooklyn Paper catches up with Our Hero and finds out his case was actually dismissed on a technicality. They report that "Judge Eugene Schwartzwald dismissed the case on Tuesday morning only because it 'took too long' to get the case to trial." VanRy’s lawyer isn't buying it however, and called out prosecutors for "not bothering to show up to fight it out on the merits." Earlier this month the first judge assigned to the case stepped down.
Could it be that no one wants to touch the open-container law? Even Judge Schwartzwald told VanRy’s lawyer that she "did a nice job on the motion,” which essentially argued that VanRy's stoop is set far enough back from the sidewalk. When VanRy was originally ticketed, the officer explained that if he were behind a fence or gate he would be okay, but the set-back stoop wasn't enough. Alas, as the warmer outdoor imbibing months creep up on us, the law is left with many a gray area (especially after Bloomberg himself declared that wine consumption at Central Park concerts was a-okay in 2003).
Tagged
Kimber VanRy
law
open container
stoop drinking
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Holy civics! NYC schools' own comic books in the spotlight at Comic Con
Comic Con continues through Sunday.
By
Jessica Gould
Published Oct 10, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
A federal immigration agent shot a Dominican immigrant in the neck in Marble Hill Thursday night.
By
Karen Yi
News
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
A federal immigration agent shot a Dominican immigrant in the neck in Marble Hill Thursday night.
By
Karen Yi
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
Two people killed in Bronx vehicle crash
By
Kaya Laterman
NY will opt in Trump’s school choice program, Hochul says
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .