Drinking on own stoop -- prohibited?

curlygirl · October 2007

So, my husband and I were on our stoop, having a beer, when an officer on patrol wandered by, and told us to put it in a cup.

We were polite to the officer, and ridiculously enough, complied. But now we're curious, it's a private house. Our private stoop. Which is behind the typical Sunset Park fence-in-front-of-yard. Is that subject to open container or some other law?

As far as my google search revealed, open container laws pertain to "public places," which as defined in the city code, seem to exclude private property. But does anyone know differently?:

New York City Administrative Code, section 10-125, consumption of alcohol in public: § 10-125 Consumption of alcohol on streets prohibited.

...

2. Public place. A place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access including, but not limited to, any highway, street, road, sidewalk, parking area, shopping area, place of amusement, playground, park or beach located within the city except that the definition of a public place shall not include those premises duly licensed for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises or within their own private property. Such public place shall also include the interior of any stationary motor vehicle which is on any highway, street, road, parking area, shopping area, playground, park or beach located within the city.

pitu · October 2007

I not an authority, but I think if you are behind your fence you are legal.
I asked a cop once, but that was years ago...

raedog · October 2007

The same thing happened to my former neighbor in Park Slope. We lived in a brownstone with a gate, and she and her boyfriend were drinking beer on the stoop. The police actually cited them, though, rather than just giving them a warning, or suggesting they put their alcohol in cups, and she had to appear in court and had to take some course as a result....The irony was that she was in law school at the time. But I gather that the city's definition of public property extended all the way to the stoop...strange as that may seem. I'm no expert, of course.

amethyst · October 2007

I'm not sure about the laws in New York, but I know that other places I've lived the law was if you are on any piece of your property that touches a public street or sidewalk, that section of property is considered public. This means you couldn't have an open container in a yard, on a stoop, or even on a balcony that had steps connecting to the sidewalk. If your balcony (or yard) was only accessible through your own house, though, then it was considered private.

Fascinating, I know!

lostingreenwoodhts · October 2007

Horse potatoes! :evil:

Renters aside (though it should not matter), Your property, your rights. Violation of city code would be if a party you might be having, on your stoop, front yard, etc. was spilling onto the sidewalk (perhaps literally

) and causing quality of life issues for the neighbors.

I'll check with our CB, but open container laws apply to public space. Your physical property is not public space by any stretch of the imagination...and I don't have a Libertarian bone in my body.

Case and point, over the summer a few of us were hanging out on a neighbors block, beers in hand, on the sidewalk watching the demolition of a building (things I do in my spare time...) when an officer who was on the site to make sure folks stayed away from the demo by HPD said, "you live here?" My friend said "yes I do, but they don't." The officer politely informed us that if we were going to throw a few back and enjoy the show, we'd need to do it from my friend's front stoop. "Yessir!"

Now, the reason I opted out renters is perhaps there may have been past issues with a multi-family where the cops had to crack down and you are getting the ass end of past ill will.

daver · October 2007

I don't know the law in this instance, but I will offer that many police officers probably don't either. Meaning that even if it is legal, if you get one that _decides_ it isn't, you could still end up with a ticket that you will have to deal with. Which will be a pain, regardless of whether it is dismissed or not.

I very nearly got arrested a couple weeks back for having a perfectly legal pocket knife in my pocket! Five out of six cops wanted to arrest me on it, thankfully the sixth one was a sergeant who sided with me. I'm still not convinced that she knew the law, but she was willing to accept my word on it that it was legal, unlike the other five, who would just as soon see me deal with a judge about it.

In other words, what is LEGAL and what is REALITY are often two different things. And REALITY can bite you in the ass, even when you are RIGHT.

Drinking on own stoop -- prohibited?

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