Actually, just as a personal impression, I remember when I first got here I thought I’d gone back twenty years in time. There were all kinds of things on this side of the Hudson that had long ago disappeared on the other side, to wit:
[ul]
[li]Polite drivers (although they’re much rarer now).[/li][li]S&H Green Stamps at the supermarket.[/li][li]Chicken Delite (still here, too)[/li][li]and, of course, that you didn’t have to pump your own gas[/li][/ul]
Very odd, the first couple of years I spent here. But of the first two items, one is almost gone, as noted, and the other is in fact gone completely. So, we’re almost there. Not sure I want to be there, though.
The first argument doesn’t really tie to your conclusion. Keeping the malls closed on Sundays should hurt NJ sales tax revenue (can’t speak on the gas thing, but I also fill up whenever I find myself on the mainland - loves me some cheap Fuckin’ Joisey* gas).
Personally, I think you’ve put the cart before the horse. IMNSHO, blue laws are based on religious - specifically, Christian - ideals, and the reasoning you put forth is used to justify and protect them from potential Establishment clause attacks.
*Thanks, pantom, for clearing that up. What does it say about F.J. when Little Stevie (Van Zandt; aka Silvio Dante, Consiliegre) is now a Manhattanite?
I think there’s a limit you can purchase and bring over state lines. Some folks drive up to the reservation in Wisconsin to get smokes, but I think they can only get maybe half a dozen cartons per trip. For us, it wouldn’t be worth it because it’s a long haul from Northeastern Illinois.
It says NJ is a good place to raise a family for the middle Class but if you are past that stage or Rich, Manhattan is the greatest place to live.
I get to raise my kids on a 2-acre property in a town that still has farms. Yet it is easy for us to visit the City. Therefore, I still get the Museums, Broadway, the Zoos, and the Yankees. I will be at about 8 games this year in the Right Field Bleachers. I like the idea of living in the city, I enjoy being able to walk to stores and restaurants and bars and take the subway but driving in the city sucks and raising kids in the city is not something I wish to do. My parents fled the Bronx back in 1970 for this reason.
Heh. Personally, I prefer the city, even for raising kids. It teaches diversity in a way that no suburb (that I know of) can (although, this can depend on neighborhood). My parents fled Queens (a pretty bad neighborhood) back in the 70s also, for the wilds of Long Island. I came back. It is not for everyone, but 'burbs life (and the commute) is not for me.
The final conclusion was about the gas-pumping law, not Paramus. It was not worded clearly (I was at work) and I apologize for the confusion.
My overall premise is the connection to money. The only reason Paramus’ blue laws haven’t been repealed is because of the malls. Since essential items like clothing are taxed in NY (although that is changing), when the NYers trek over here to get their DKNY & Victoria’s Secret there is no tax benefit to NJ because clothing is not taxed. The local retailers are certainly not complaining about the blue laws, because despite the Sunday closure Paramus retailers rack up over $5 billion in sales each year, according to this real estate site.
The religious connection and the establishment clause is merely a canard. The law remains on the books because it is popular and it works. I can’t find a reference, but according to my wife (who grew up in Bergen County) the laws were put into effect within the past few decades, after the malls were built. I’m not defending the law - I really don’t care. I don’t live there and I don’t shop there, but IMNSHO I think you are making an assumption because it’s easy to associate blue laws with Christianity. If that were truly the reason, I have no doubt the significant Jewish and Muslim population of Bergen county would have gotten the law repealed by now.
No, that loophole is not legal. Legally, you are supposed to report & pay taxes on cigarettes that you import from a reservation into the US. Smokers usually don’t.
Here in Minnesota, the state sometimes does enforce this. They put state officers on the roads to the reservation, stop cars, and check for large quantities of cigarettes. There were allegations that the state had someone posted in the reservation parking lots watching for people carrying out cartons to their cars, and who then radioed the license plate number to the waiting cops. Never proved, and I would think the reservation would take steps to stop this.
And I’ve heard that some states are considering going after their sales taxes on big online purchases, when they can. Specifically, purchases of cars. Since you have to register the car and list the seller, they can catch this. And it’s a big enough purchase to be worth going after.
Heh. You outsiders can make fun of us for our full serve gas all you want. Me, I pull up to the pump, hand my credit card to one of the very cute guys who work there, run into the Dunkin Donuts and get a coffee, and come back to find the guy just finishing up. He hands me the card and my receipt with a flirtatious smile and thank you. Sometimes, he has already finished, and my card and receipt are sitting on my seat. I still get the flirtatious smile and thank you. It’s a nice way to start a day.
Maybe you all would complain less if your gas was pumped by hot Jersey girls in bikinis. Hey, now there’s an idea. Excuse me while I go execute my plan to get rich quick…
Seems that Bergen County’s blue laws trace back to the 19th century. New Jersey has changed to allow each county to opt out of the blue laws; Bergen has chosen not to for the reason you cite.
(It’s hard to find objective information on NJ’s blue laws. Most of the google links are pushing an agenda. When sites are pushing an agenda, I don’t want to cite them, as agenda-pushers have been known to be a little loose with facts.)
Here in blue-lawed Massachusetts, Sunday sots could get their fix by driving up to New Hampshire, which has flocks of state liquor stores nestled along the border. The booze purveyors in bordering Bay State communities protested, the legislature contemplated the revenue loss, and a compromise was reached: Liquor stores within X (I think it’s ten) miles of the NH border were allowed to be open on Sunday.
I could be wrong on this, but I think this has changed. For a number of years, packies have been open on Sundays from noon until 6pm between Thanksgiving and New Years. And now I think it’s year-round. At least in Boston.
They have been lifted and it is statewide for towns that allow it. Liquor stores can open at noon on Sunday and they generally close before 6. The rare non-liquor store that sells beer and wine can sell until 10:00 Sunday.
In Tioga, NY, on US 15, there used to be a little Come’N’Go whose sole purpose appeared to be selling beer to Pennsylvanians, as an alternative to The Glorious People’s Beer Store of the People’s Glorious Victory Over Cheap and Readily Available Beer. I understand they’ve eased up on that recently, too, though.
Well, maybe NJTransit can adopt the idea. Could you imagine? A conductor wearing nothing but a Speedo, a belt with a change dispenser, and an official NJTransit hat. Might make the whole “change in Newark” thing more tolerable.
Be careful going through that intersection late night. The gas station across from the Exxon is a cop “rest area”.
Damn, the internets connect ya to the whole world, and everybody in your neighborhood.
CMC around the corner from Tiffany Drugs and Jax Auto Parts.
If that Exxon has girls in bikinis, a lot has changed in 20 years.