New York has laws governing horse tails, the color of baby chicks and milk cans.
They are left over from a legal code that also tightly regulates steamships, railroads and telegraph companies.
While outdated New York laws — like one criminalizing adultery — have been taken off the books in recent years, others remain as either outdated, unenforced, or simply a reminder of a simpler time in the state.
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Here are 10 of the most interesting or outdated laws still on the books in New York.
1. Work (and other things) are prohibited on Sundays
Parishioners arrive as The First Church of Albany holds Easter service on Sunday, March 31, 2024 in Albany.
Lori Van Buren/Times Union
Are you scheduled to work this Sunday? If so, you’re breaking New York law that plainly states “all labor on Sunday is prohibited,
excepting the works of necessity and charity.” The “works of necessity” part appears to be a loophole large enough to drive a capitalist economy through, though.
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The punishment for this misdemeanor will cost you a fine between $5 and $10 or “imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding
five days, or… both.” That is, unless it’s your second strike, then the fine is upped to between $10 and $20, or by
imprisonment in a county jail not less than five nor more than twenty days, or both.”
There are remnants of other “blue laws” around the state, which explain different rules for the sale of alcohol on Sunday. In Binghamton, those laws include a ban on charging for movie showings after 2 p.m. on Sundays. The city also prohibits charging for tickets for baseball games played at Recreation Park on Sundays after 2 p.m.
2. The ‘tiger selfie’ law
Spectators watch as Joanne, a Sumatran tiger, enjoys a large ice cube topped with frozen chicken broth cubes, whipped cream and goats milk while keeping cool at Phoenix Zoo on March 19, 2026 in Phoenix.
Rebecca Noble/AP
The “tiger selfie” law — officially New York Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0538 — governs the public’s direct contact with big cats. That includes lions, tigers, leopards (with the exception of clouded leopards), jaguars, mountain lions (sometimes called cougars) or any hybrid species.
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The law was updated in 2014 — years before the infamous “Tiger King” documentary — for safety purposes as more and more people started doing risky things for photos to put on social media. The law’s direct contact rules include “allowing a photograph to be taken without a permanent physical barrier designed to prevent physical contact between the public and big cats.”
Yes, that sentence outlaws tiger selfies — without a barrier.
3. Elevator operators must have chairs, women too
Senate elevator operator, Virginia Hoke, lets passengers out of the Capitol elevator on Feb. 23, 2006.
Paul Buckowski/Hearst
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a guaranteed chair at your job, codified in state law? That’s the case for elevator operators — and women.
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Labor law 203-A guarantees “every passenger elevator operated and maintained for use by the public shall be equipped or furnished with a seat, collapsible or otherwise, for the use of the operator when the elevator is not being operated.”
Section 203-B goes further, requiring seats — preferably with backs — for women. It states “a sufficient number of suitable seats, with backs where practicable, shall be provided and maintained in every factory, mercantile establishment, freight or passenger elevator, hotel and restaurant for female employees who shall be allowed to use the seats to such an extent as may be reasonable for the preservation of their health.”
Examples of office furniture not guaranteed by the state include desks, lamps and coat racks.
4. You can’t sell dyed baby animals
Baby chicks huddle together in a chicken house on the grounds of the N.C. Caledonia Prison Farm near Tillery, N.C.
CHUCK LIDDY/AP
It’s unclear if this law is for the animal’s welfare or consumer protection. Either way you can’t sell chicks, ducklings, other baby fowl or baby rabbits that have been dyed. So no pink bunnies or blue chicks. This law seems especially relevant around Easter and in the era of increasingly elaborate baby gender reveals.
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The law also bans selling the baby chicks or rabbits in quantities less than six if they’re less than two months old. In for a penny, in for a half-dozen when it comes to baby rabbits.
5. You can’t cut a horse’s tail
A horse being washed swishes his tail in the barn area at the Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 25, 2022 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Skip Dickstein
Agriculture and Markets Article 26 states “any person who cuts the bone, tissues, muscles or tendons of the tail of any horse, mare or gelding, or otherwise operates upon it” is guilty of a misdemeanor. The shortening of the tail — not just trimming the tail hair — was once done to horses so their tails didn’t interfere with harness or carriage equipment. Since that type of equipment is rare today, it is considered animal cruelty for it to be done for cosmetic reasons.
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Still, it seems odd for such a specific law to be mentioned in state law. A bill about altering the tails and ears of dogs introduced in 2025 is stuck in committee in the Assembly.
And just to cover all bases, the following people are also guilty of a misdemeanor in New York:
Anyone who shows or exhibits a horse whose tail is cut
Anyone who allows a horse’s tail to be cut on their property
Anyone present while a horse’s tail is being cut
6. You can start a mink and fox farm
A mink walks in front a farm near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain on Oct. 15, 2006 after a group , believed to be environmental activists, broke into three mink farms and freed thousands of the prized animals.
CABALAR/AP
The popularity of real fur garments has plummeted since the 1900s, but they are technically still legal to buy in New York. A bill banning the trade of fur products currently sits in committee in the Legislature. Also legal — codified in state law — is the ability to run a mink and fox farm.
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Section 127 of the state’s Ag and Markets law says “the breeding, raising and producing in captivity, and the marketing, by the producer of mink and ranch fox, as live animals, pelts or carcasses, shall be deemed an agricultural pursuit.”
7. Detailed milk can laws
Cream cans lined in from of the Hazelwood Cream Station in Genesee, Idaho in July 1941.
Corbis via Getty Images
New York still has several laws on the books that were written for a world when metal milk cans were widely used.
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For example, it is illegal to buy, sell, or use a milk can that has someone else’s name stamped on it without permission. It’s also illegal to alter the logo or name on that can. The law even allows a kind of vigilante justice to get your milk cans back if someone has them. Chapter 20, article 17 of general business law states, a person may, “in case of resistance, call to his or her aid any police officer or constable of the town, village or city who shall when so called on assist him or her in seizing or taking possession of such cans.”
8. Don’t leave a key in the ignition
This April 1, 2014 file photo shows a key in the ignition switch of a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in Alexandria, Va.
Molly Riley/Associated Press
Out of an abundance of caution, state traffic law has a series of rules that ensure parked cars don’t roll away. That includes a violation for anyone who leaves their car with the keys in the ignition. Former Albany Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd found this out the hard way.
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9. Don’t honk your horn
Depending on your interpretation of the law, there should be much less traffic noise from car horns in the state. New York’s vehicle and traffic law requires every vehicle to have a working horn, but also says it “shall not be used other than as a reasonable warning.” Can we expect other drivers to act reasonably on the road?
Perhaps many drivers see danger at every turn in New York City, thus the constant warning honks. Speaking of the Big Apple…
10. No puppet shows (in NYC)
If you ever wondered why only tourists look up in New York City, it’s because city residents know Title 10, Section 114 of the administrative code outlaws puppet shows. The ban prohibits anyone “from any window or open space of any house, or building, to exhibit to the public upon the street, or the sidewalk thereof, any performance of puppet or other figures, ballet or other dancing, comedy, farce, show with moving figures, play or other entertainment.”
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Public scaling of buildings and houses is prohibited in the same section.