New York has laws governing horse tails, the color of baby chicks and milk cans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They are left over from a legal code that also tightly regulates steamships, railroads and telegraph companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While outdated New York laws\u00a0\u2014 like one criminalizing adultery \u2014 have been taken off the books in recent years, others remain as either outdated, unenforced, or simply a reminder of a simpler time in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Here are 10 of the most interesting or outdated laws still on the books in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Work (and other things) are prohibited on Sundays<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Parishioners arrive as The First Church of Albany holds Easter service on Sunday, March 31, 2024 in Albany.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Are you scheduled to work this Sunday? If so, you\u2019re breaking New York law that plainly states<\/a> \u201call labor on Sunday is prohibited, Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The punishment for this\u00a0misdemeanor will cost you a fine between $5 and $10 or \u201cimprisonment in a county jail not exceeding There are remnants of other \u201cblue laws\u201d 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<\/a> after 2 p.m. on Sundays. The city also prohibits charging for tickets for baseball games played at Recreation Park on Sundays after 2\u00a0p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. The \u2018tiger selfie\u2019\u00a0law<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Rebecca Noble\/AP<\/p>\n The \u201ctiger selfie\u201d law\u00a0\u2014 officially New York Environmental Conservation Law \u00a7 11-0538<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 governs the public\u2019s direct contact with big\u00a0cats. That includes lions, tigers, leopards (with the exception of clouded leopards), jaguars, mountain lions (sometimes called cougars) or any hybrid species.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The law was updated in 2014\u00a0\u2014 years before the infamous \u201cTiger King\u201d documentary\u00a0\u2014 for safety purposes as more and more people started doing risky things for photos<\/a> to put on social media. The law\u2019s direct contact rules include \u201callowing a photograph to be taken without a permanent physical barrier designed to prevent physical contact between the public and big cats.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, that sentence outlaws tiger selfies\u00a0\u2014 without a barrier.<\/p>\n 3. Elevator operators must have chairs, women too<\/p>\n Senate elevator operator, Virginia\u00a0Hoke, lets passengers out of the Capitol elevator on Feb. 23, 2006.<\/p>\n Paul Buckowski\/Hearst<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to have a guaranteed chair at your job, codified in state law? That\u2019s the case for elevator operators\u00a0\u2014 and women.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Labor law 203-A guarantees<\/a> \u201cevery 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Section 203-B goes further, requiring seats<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 preferably with backs\u00a0\u2014 for women. It states \u201ca 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Examples of office furniture not\u00a0guaranteed by the state include desks, lamps and coat racks.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. You can\u2019t sell dyed baby animals<\/p>\n Baby chicks huddle together in a chicken house on the grounds of the\u00a0N.C. Caledonia Prison Farm near Tillery, N.C.<\/p>\n CHUCK LIDDY\/AP<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if this law is for the animal\u2019s welfare or consumer protection. Either way you can\u2019t sell chicks, ducklings, other baby fowl\u00a0or 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\u00a0gender reveals.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The law<\/a> also bans selling the baby chicks or rabbits in quantities less than six if they\u2019re less than two months old. In for a penny, in for a half-dozen when it comes to baby rabbits.\u00a0<\/p>\n 5. You can\u2019t cut a horse\u2019s tail<\/p>\n A horse being washed swishes his tail in the barn area at the\u00a0Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 25, 2022 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.<\/p>\n Skip Dickstein<\/p>\n Agriculture and Markets Article 26 states \u201cany person who cuts the bone, tissues, muscles or tendons of the tail of any horse, mare or gelding, or otherwise operates upon it\u201d is guilty of a misdemeanor. The shortening of the tail\u00a0\u2014 not just trimming the tail hair\u00a0\u2014 was once done to horses so their tails didn\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, it seems odd for such a specific law to be mentioned in state law. A bill about altering the tails<\/a> and ears of dogs introduced in 2025 is stuck in committee in the Assembly.\u00a0<\/p>\n And just to cover all bases, the following people are also guilty of a misdemeanor in New York:\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyone who shows or exhibits a horse whose tail is cut 6. You can start a mink and fox farm<\/p>\n A mink walks in front a farm near Santiago de\u00a0Compostela, 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n CABALAR\/AP<\/p>\n 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<\/a> currently sits in committee in the Legislature. Also legal\u00a0\u2014 codified in state law\u00a0\u2014 is the ability to run a mink and fox farm.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Section 127 of the state\u2019s Ag and Markets law says<\/a> \u201cthe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 7. Detailed milk can laws<\/p>\n Cream cans lined in from of the Hazelwood Cream Station in Genesee, Idaho in July 1941.\u00a0<\/p>\n Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n New York still has several laws on the books that were written for a world when metal milk cans were widely used.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For example, it is illegal to buy, sell, or use a milk can that has someone else\u2019s name stamped on it without permission. It\u2019s 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. \u00a0Chapter 20, article 17 of general business\u00a0law states<\/a>, a person may, \u201cin case of resistance, call to his or her aid any\u00a0police officer or constable of the town, village or city who shall when\u00a0so called on assist him or her in seizing or taking possession of such cans.\u201d<\/p>\n 8. Don\u2019t leave a key in the ignition<\/p>\n This April 1, 2014 file photo shows a key in the ignition switch of a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in Alexandria,\u00a0Va.<\/p>\n Molly Riley\/Associated Press<\/p>\n Out of an abundance of caution, state traffic law has a series of rules that ensure parked cars don\u2019t 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<\/a> the hard way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 9. Don\u2019t honk your horn<\/p>\n Depending on your interpretation of the law, there should be much less traffic noise from car horns in the state. New York\u2019s vehicle and traffic law\u00a0requires every vehicle to have a working horn<\/a>, but also says it \u201cshall not be used other than as a reasonable warning.\u201d Can we expect other drivers to act reasonably on the road?\u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps many drivers see danger at every turn in New York City, thus the constant warning honks. Speaking of the Big Apple\u2026<\/p>\n 10. No puppet shows (in NYC)<\/p>\n
excepting the works of necessity and charity.\u201d The \u201cworks of necessity\u201d part appears to be a loophole large enough to drive a capitalist economy through, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n
five days, or\u2026 both.\u201d That is, unless it\u2019s 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\u00a0days, or both.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nAnyone who allows a horse\u2019s tail to be cut on their property
\nAnyone present while a horse\u2019s tail is being cut<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n