Fighting for the right to drink on your front porch
The New York Times reports that a man named Kimber VanRy, who lives in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, was recently given a citation for drinking in public. No, Mr. VanRy is not a bum who was staggering down the street drinking a 40 out of a paper bag. Rather, he’s a middle-class businessman who owns a condo in a 20-unit co-op. He had just put the kids to bed, helped with the dishes, and watched some of one of the national political conventions. He decided to enjoy the nice weather for a few minutes before bed, so he took a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale out to his stoop… and was spotted by a cop who ticketed him for drinking in public.
It’s pretty ridiculous that in some parts of the country, you can’t enjoy a beer or cocktail on your own property due to drinking laws. I used to live in San Diego, and I saw cops give people whose homes bordered the Mission Beach boardwalk tickets all the time for drinking beer in their courtyard. What’s the point in owning a million-dollar beach home in one of America’s most beautiful cities if you can’t go outside and drink a damn beer?
Drinking laws need to be revised. This is a right that should not be taken away from property owners. If they’re drunk and creating a disturbance, ticket them for that, sure. But let people drink in peace.
