40oz and a paper bag? (Ridge: apartment, crime, coop)

[StrugglingMusician91]

So, I got a drunken pissed off phone call from my friend who lives in East Harlem on 117th street. He was on his front steps drinking a 40oz in a brown paper bag and was issued a sitation from the police! I had to laugh because he was drinking a 40oz outside in the freezing weather. I didn't think they could do that though. Are the cops in NYC really allowed to stop you if its in a brown paper bag? I thought that was the purpose of the bag! I remember readin an article about a guy in brooklyn who got a ticket for drinking a beer(not conceiled by a bag) while on his front steps, but I didn't think if you had it covered they could stop you. Maybe they changed the law or they just choose not to uphold it.

[Viralmd]

Absolutely. They can.

And your friend should be made aware that alcohol only MAKES you feel warm because it increases blood flow in the surface of the skin, BUT it also causes you to lose body heat at a faster rate and it is extremely dangerous to drink in cold weather. People feel warm, but are actually LOSING body heat and there are many alcoholics admitted to hospital in winter with life-threatening hypothermia.

[Moderate Guy]

^^ From what I'm reading here it seems your friend has a situation of possibly failing four potential tests: vagrancy, sobriety, health, common sense.

[SeventhFloor]

they can give you a ticket if you're sitting on a stoop drinking alcohol, however i dont think they can if there's a front gate...i think that designates between private and public space. somebody correct me if i'm wrong.

[dixiecupdrinking]

The guy from Brooklyn who got some press was drinking on the stoop of his brownstone coop building. Legally, it may make some difference whether the stoop belongs to a single-family residence or a multi-apartment building. In practice, I doubt most cops would know enough, or choose, to discriminate, especially considering this doesn't even seem to be an issue that's been completely established by the courts. But yes, there seems to be a fair amount of precedent for stoops being public space.

There are also "plain sight" provisions that allow cops to pursue people into private spaces they might not otherwise be allowed to go if they witness a crime being committed; this probably doesn't apply here, though because a) drinking in public is not a criminal offense, and b) the nature of the violation is such that, even to be a violation, it must be committed in public in the first place; i.e., drinking in private is clearly not against the law.

The interesting question seems to be whether the cops had the right to give him the ticket despite the brown bag. If your friend just walked away and refused to show or tell them what was in the bag, they may have just given it up; or they may have arrested him. Who knows.

(I am not a lawyer.)

[jt1775]

Originally Posted by dixiecupdrinking

if your friend just walked away and refused to show or tell them what was in the bag, they may have just given it up; or they may have arrested him. Who knows.

really bad advice. This is a great way to end up with a lot more than a $20 ticket for drinking in public.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Originally Posted by jt1775

really bad advice. This is a great way to end up with a lot more than a $20 ticket for drinking in public.

Not advice; just speculation.

Also, this is exactly the problem with these "what are my rights?" questions. In principle, you may have certain rights, and maybe a court would agree with you, but they're often not that clear-cut and don't matter very much when you're actually talking to a cop. They have guidelines but they're not legal scholars and probably don't have much patience for people who pretend to be.

[Samrai309]

This is interesting because I was just asking my father this question the other the day. It actually came about from a question about buying alcohol and not having it placed in a bag when you leave the store even though its unopened. He is a retired sgt and he said the bag does not matter. Alcohol being consumed in public is still a violation and there is some stupid administrative code or something that drinking alcohol covered with a brown paper bag can be cited under. I assume it depends on the officer if its enforced. But, aside from arguing the stoop is public place vs. private, alcohol in a bag or not can still get you bagged.

[Coolhand68]

A friend of mine got a $25 summons for drinking a beer on his stoop. It was not in a bag, but this type of thing was unheard of in our neighborhood (Ridgewood). City cops today have way too much time on their hands, I guess this is how the city is going to pay for that raise in pay they gave the NYPD. I realize they have a job to do, but if that's how low the city has to stoop to squeeze a few more dollars of revenue out of its citizens it's unfortunate. NYC will be turning into one giant suburb if guys like Bloomberg keep getting elected. Guiliani was the catalyst for this sort of thing with his zero tolerance policy on even the smallest of crimes. You have to take the good with the bad I guess.

[TunaBoy]

I was curious about it too. I just carry drinks in a non-alcoholic bottle. Coke & henny ftw!