Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Lone State Lawmaker Fights Against Pre-Noon Brunch Booze
By
David Colon
Published Jun 11, 2016
Modified Jun 12, 2016
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
David Colon
Published Jun 11, 2016
Modified Jun 12, 2016
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
Let's get one thing out of the way: blue laws are an archaic bit of legislation biased toward protecting the interests and morals of one religion in the United States, and it would be fine and dandy if we woke up tomorrow and they were gone forever. That being said, pardon me if I can't get my hackles up over a lone state legislator standing in the way of a bill to make it legal for bars and restaurants to serve booze before noon, especially since the Post is incorrectly pitching his fight as "the only thing standing between thirsty New Yorkers and a Sunday morning bloody Mary." If Buffalo Assemblyman Robin Schimminger somehow keeps this bill from becoming a law, rest assured you'll still be able to get a Sunday brunch drink when you actually need it: post-noon.
Let's be realistic here. The people who really need a Sunday mimosa or bloody Mary aren't even waking up at a time that would necessitate a 10 a.m. brunch cocktail.
Here's how it works: You go out on Saturday night and have a bunch of drinks and do your coke or your molly or your LSD, if you want to get weird, and stay up dancing and smoking cigarettes and talking on a roof until the sun starts peeking over the horizon, before you finally straggle back to bed. You might wake up at 10 a.m., or repeatedly from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., but brunch, at this point, is a pipe dream, and if you're thirsty, the only thing you can handle without dying is water. It's only by 11 or 11:30 or even 12:30, that the world has stopped spinning, and then and only then, do you text some friends and decide to go for some brunch.
It takes a half hour to decide on a place. It takes another 30 minutes for everyone to straggle out of their homes. At least three trains aren't running. You wait on line for an hour. You sit down at last and order the mimosa or bloody Mary, or, Christ, just the cheapest beer on the menu, please stop talking and just bring it over because if you don't get any alcohol in your bloodstream your brain might never stop pounding and you expect it'll soon explode all over your Eggs Benedict.
By the time the sweet hair of the dog touches your lips, it's probably 2 p.m. Assemblyman Schimminger isn't standing in the way of 2 p.m. booze, so don't you worry your precious pounding head about it.
Besides, whether Schimminger is opposed to the bill because he's a deeply principled individual or he's a religious freak who gets off on controlling people's behavior, the bill's got massive support among the rest of the legislature. So don't you worry, fictional pre-noon drunk brunchers, the odds look pretty good in your favor.
Tagged
blue laws
booze
drunk brunch
David Colon
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Oct 10, 2026
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
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 .