Liquor stores will be able to extend their hours on Sundays under a bill signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul over the weekend.
Stores can now be open from 10am to 10pm, instead of 12pm to 6pm.
It is part of a package of legislation designed to modernise New York’s liquor laws and help small business owners.
Nelson Habecker, owner of the East Avenue Liquor Store, celebrates the change.
“I’m very excited about this because many times on a Sunday I’ll come in here just before noon and I’ll see customers waiting outside to start their day by getting their liquor and being on their way,” Habecker said. “By moving it to 10am, it will make it much easier for them to keep their schedules and have a better day without having to wait for a liquor store to open.”
Habecker has already updated the sign out front to let customers know they will be opening earlier on Sunday mornings.
“I think the customers will be very happy about it. I have talked to my staff, they have enjoyed the few extra hours they are going to get,” Habecker said.
He said the extra hours in the morning will go a long way, especially during the football season.
“Everyone watches football on Sunday afternoons, don’t they?” Habecker said. “And they’re all here at 12 o’clock and they have to get home by 1 o’clock to watch the game, so it makes it difficult for them, so this makes their day a lot easier.”
Erin Brooks, owner of Whitehouse Liquor & Wine, is unsure about the change.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” Brooks said. “Obviously, the law changed a while ago where you could be open from 12 to 6, and that was still a special day because you could have special customers in. It wasn’t a long day of catching up on work, so we haven’t really made any formal decisions about what we do. But I now like to shut down at 6pm just to go home to my family and have a family dinner if I am working that day, so it is a family challenge.
Brooks also has to consider whether she has enough staff to cover the extra hours.
“You have to balance your labour force with the sales that are coming in the door and see what is worth it,” Brooks said.
The package of legislation signed by Hochul includes other laws to loosen restrictions on alcohol, including expanding the hours retail stores can sell beer on Sunday, extending brewery licences and more.