I am surprised New York still has such archaiac laws. Being a progressive state and city I would have expected these kind of laws to be modified.
New York city might be more progressive than Fort Worth, TX, but there are still plenty of conservatives even though they might be in the minority.
A Democrat mayor of one city might have views and policies that would be seen as fully Republican by people in another city, and vice versa.
National-level politics is more uniform. But when you get to the local level, it’s all simply people picking the team they think will help them win the election.
A very nice observation. I do believe this occurs at the national level as well. One example being conservative Democratic Senators from the South becoming Republicans.
No, those were changes to adapt to national political realignment; they switched because the party they had been a member of stopped supporting the things they wanted.
They cater to their voting blocks with blue meat issues or red meat issues depending on what they think is most popular. That's it. Point blank. It's about staying in power as long as you can until you can leave with a cushy job, most likely lobbying, "consulting" or under another administration where they can rake in revenues via corruption.
Yes I am jaded.
> “They go back to the 1700s,” he explained. “They were designed really to encourage and reinforce church attendance and they originally covered all sorts of behaviors . . . no playing games, no sports, no sex. Back in the day, George Washington almost got arrested for traveling on Sunday.”[1]
> “It’s easy to pass laws regulating people’s behavior,” he said. “It is very difficult to repeal those laws.”[1]
> A license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline[1]
> it is illegal to walk around on Sunday with an ice cream in your pocket.[2]
> it is illegal to have two or more people gather together in public while each wearing any sort of disguise or mask[2]
> A man cannot go in public wearing non-matching pants and jacket.[2]
> it's illegal to wear your slippers after 10pm[2]
> While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door[2]
[1] https://nypost.com/2016/06/19/new-york-citys-most-ridiculous...
[2] http://981thehawk.com/10-completely-bizarre-new-york-state-l...
Edit: Actually, I did find a reference for one of the saner "weird laws": PEN § 240.35 paragraph 4 does define "Being masked or in any manner disguised by unusual or unnatural attire or facial alteration, loiters, remains or congregates in a public place with other persons so masked or disguised, or knowingly permits or aids persons so masked or disguised to congregate in a public place; except that such conduct is not unlawful when it occurs in connection with a masquerade party or like entertainment if, when such entertainment is held in a city which has promulgated regulations in connection with such affairs, permission is first obtained from the police or other appropriate authorities" as loitering.
Again, note that many of the apocryphal stories about "weird laws still on the books" refer not to small cities, but the kind of large, old cities whose laws are easily accessible via the web.
https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/newyork-in-depth/local-gove...
Ex:
Wearing a mask in public (or on private property without written consent) is a felony in Virginia punishable by up to 5 years in jail.
This has allowed for the identification and exposure of many attendees of the Nazi riot on August 11-12, 2017 who may have otherwise concealed their identities.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter9/secti...
> Many anti-mask laws date back to the mid-20th century when states and municipalities, passed them to stop the violent activities of the Ku Klux Klan, whose members typically wore hoods of white linen to conceal their identities.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-mask_laws#United_States
http://gothamist.com/2012/10/22/anti-mask_law_from_1845_used... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Rent_War
Blue does not necessarily equal progressive.
See also: Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc...