When is the right time for bartenders to shout last call? That is a question being heard in the college town of New Paltz, which is debating whether bars there should close at 2 a.m. instead of the current 4 a.m.
Some political and civic leaders think closing the bars in New Paltz two hours earlier each evening would be a good idea, but the local tavern owner”™s association and the local police chief do not agree. As a college town, New Paltz has a cluster of bars in a two block area in the tiny downtown section of the village that is an easy walk from the campus.  Â
The question of what time to make last call is being given new impetus by a petition drive headed by the former village mayor and a former town supervisor and current county legislator who think the town should move last call to 2 a.m. to reduce the uproar of noisy college kids heading home in the pre-dawn hours and reduce the chances that partying in the wee hours will lead to problems from alcohol, drugs and sexual assault or date rape.
Not everyone thinks earlier closing is a good idea. The head of the town tavern owner”™s association and owner of P&G”™s Bar and Restaurant, Mike Beck opposes the idea of an earlier closing time, saying “a huge percentage” of sales occur in the last two hours of operation and saying earlier closing would have a drastic effect on his bottom line.
And Beck has allies in the local police department. Longtime police Chief Ray Zappone, who is retiring in December, has long defended the 4 a.m. closing time, saying bars are small businesses that contribute taxes to the town and county and have a right to operate as they see fit. Zappone”™s stance is echoed by incoming Chief Joe Snyder. They believe that a closing time at 2 a.m. might lead to a proliferation of private house parties scattered around the college town, instead of centering the action at the bars concentrated in the two block section of the village.
Beck also noted that the bars in town offer a free Safe Ride service to anyone who asks and says use is steady but manageable between midnight and 4 a.m. He said a 2 a.m. closure would overwhelm the service and could paradoxically increase the level of drunk drivers in the area as people leaving the closed bars went elsewhere to party at private homes or in surrounding towns with later bar closure times.
Advocates for the idea include former New Paltz Village Mayor Tom Nyquist, who said that when he lived near the center of the village in the past, he would be awakened by inebriated students noisily making their way home.
Another advocate is Ulster County Legislator Susan Zimet, a former New Paltz town supervisor. She said that trouble in the bars and surrounding streets is most likely to occur in the late hours, but did not offer any evidence to support the contention. But she said that it is common sense that drinking into the wee hours creates a variety of problems. She said that while tavern owners might lose revenue initially, would-be partyers would adapt by going out earlier, thus making the evening as lucrative as before, but with earlier festivities.                        Â
Supporters of the restricted hours are part of an informal group that is conducting a petition drive to test the waters and ascertain if New Paltz residents support an earlier closure time. While legally it is up to a county government in New York state to decree what time bars in the county close, Zimet said that she has researched the matter with the state liquor authority. She said she learned that if their group can demonstrate strong support for an earlier closure, they should petition the state Legislature for special home rule legislation that would allow New Paltz to close its bars at 2 a.m. Â
