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Albany County Legislature Urges State to Expand Liquor-store Hours to Match Neighbors
Summary
A resolution asking the New York State Liquor Authority to allow expanded retail hours passed unanimously; sponsors framed the change as pro-business and pro-revenue, while members raised concerns about small operators and labor impacts.
The law committee approved a resolution asking the New York State Liquor Authority to expand allowable retail hours for wine and liquor sales in Albany County to align with neighboring counties.
Cam Sayegan of the county executive’s office presented the resolution and said: “This is a resolution, asking the nearest state liquor authority to expand liquor store hours.” He described the proposal as “pro business, this is pro, tax revenue, and it...makes the lives of our residents a lot easier when there's more uniform policy.” Sayegan said the change would match hours used by Greene, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties (transcript: “Green, Saratoga, and Sahari/Schenectady”), and referenced a prior trial of expanded holiday hours.
Committee members asked whether small liquor-store operators or landlords who set strip-mall lease hours had weighed in; Sayegan said he was “not to my knowledge” aware of formal input from industry groups. Legislator Lockhart and others raised labor concerns: Lockhart said previously she had heard solo operators might be “obligated to be open on Sundays now and essentially not get a day off because there are some that are solo or just 1 and 2 people.” Committee members noted the proposal is permissive, not mandatory, and would allow individual stores to remain more restricted if they choose. As one member asked for clarification, a presenter confirmed: “Correct...so that, you know, they could operate within that time frame, but they could obviously be more restricted.”
A motion to approve the county’s request to the state liquor authority was made and seconded; the committee recorded the vote as unanimous.
The resolution asks the State Liquor Authority to expand permissible retail hours; it does not itself change local law, nor does it compel stores to extend hours. Committee discussion acknowledged potential operational or labor impacts for small operators and noted the proposal was framed as supporting uniform hours and additional tax revenue.
