NEW YORK—State and local officials announced new legislation on Sunday in response to a recent spree of published reports of the sale of illegal and potent alcoholic beverages called “Nutcrackers” by barbershops, bodegas, and other stores to children as young as 14 in the Washington Heights area.
The drinks are sold in Styrofoam cups for $5 or $10 a piece and are usually a mix of vodka or rum and sweet fruit punch that appeals to young teens and children.
According to a NY Daily News report from last week, a reporter was able to purchase the illegal drinks in five different bodegas in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The drinks have become so popular that a legal knockoff has been bottled by a distributor in Florida with an image of the Manhattan skyline on the label.
State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, state Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, City Councilmen Robert Jackson and Ramon Murphy, president of the Bodega Association of the United States, were joined by representatives of Northern Manhattan’s public officials and community leaders at a press conference on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 186th Street to announce proposed state legislation to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law in relation to the penalties for the sale of alcohol to minors and increased penalties for the sale of alcohol without the appropriate license.
The legislation will be introduced by Assemblyman Espaillat in the state Assembly and Sen. Schneiderman in the state Senate and will propose increased penalties for the sale of alcohol to individuals under age 21 and expanded penalties for the sale “of alcohol without the appropriate license, including increased fines and length of imprisonment.”
“The illegal sale of alcoholic beverages by unlicensed premises and the sale of nutcrackers to minors is a serious violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. I am proposing legislation in the state Legislature along with Sen. Schneiderman, while Councilmember Rodriguez will introduce a City Council resolution in support of the legislation,” said Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (72nd A.D. Washington Heights-Inwood & Marble Hill).
“Plain and simple, selling alcohol to minors is a crime—period. We don’t allow restaurants and bars to sell liquor to our children—and we certainly are not going to permit barbers, who are not even in the alcohol serving business, to do it. Our proposed legislation will let these businesses know that there will be serious consequences for engaging in illegal activity,” said Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman (31st District-Manhattan/Bronx).
“I recognize that most small businesses including bodegas, delis, and barbershops are lawful entities that provide needed goods and services to the communities they serve. This legislation is intended to crack down on those businesses that are breaking the law and selling alcohol to minors. Additionally, I will introduce a measure in the City Council to support the effort of my colleagues in the state legislature” said Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (Council Member for Washington Heights, Inwood & Marble Hill).
The drinks are sold in Styrofoam cups for $5 or $10 a piece and are usually a mix of vodka or rum and sweet fruit punch that appeals to young teens and children.
According to a NY Daily News report from last week, a reporter was able to purchase the illegal drinks in five different bodegas in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The drinks have become so popular that a legal knockoff has been bottled by a distributor in Florida with an image of the Manhattan skyline on the label.
State Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, state Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, City Councilmen Robert Jackson and Ramon Murphy, president of the Bodega Association of the United States, were joined by representatives of Northern Manhattan’s public officials and community leaders at a press conference on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 186th Street to announce proposed state legislation to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law in relation to the penalties for the sale of alcohol to minors and increased penalties for the sale of alcohol without the appropriate license.
The legislation will be introduced by Assemblyman Espaillat in the state Assembly and Sen. Schneiderman in the state Senate and will propose increased penalties for the sale of alcohol to individuals under age 21 and expanded penalties for the sale “of alcohol without the appropriate license, including increased fines and length of imprisonment.”
“The illegal sale of alcoholic beverages by unlicensed premises and the sale of nutcrackers to minors is a serious violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. I am proposing legislation in the state Legislature along with Sen. Schneiderman, while Councilmember Rodriguez will introduce a City Council resolution in support of the legislation,” said Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat (72nd A.D. Washington Heights-Inwood & Marble Hill).
“Plain and simple, selling alcohol to minors is a crime—period. We don’t allow restaurants and bars to sell liquor to our children—and we certainly are not going to permit barbers, who are not even in the alcohol serving business, to do it. Our proposed legislation will let these businesses know that there will be serious consequences for engaging in illegal activity,” said Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman (31st District-Manhattan/Bronx).
“I recognize that most small businesses including bodegas, delis, and barbershops are lawful entities that provide needed goods and services to the communities they serve. This legislation is intended to crack down on those businesses that are breaking the law and selling alcohol to minors. Additionally, I will introduce a measure in the City Council to support the effort of my colleagues in the state legislature” said Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (Council Member for Washington Heights, Inwood & Marble Hill).
