Weekend Noise, Garbage Irk Nyack Merchants

If Nyack's noisy weekend nights aren't enough to miff downtown business owners and residents, the morning-after mess generally does the trick.

Just recently, Paulette Ross of P. Ross on Main Street had to step over broken glass to open her doors in the a.m., and Marianne Olive—owner of and —often wards off legions of untidy revelers on Saturday evenings.

"They are often drunk and dropping things along the way, scattering them all over the place," she said.

Merchants like Ross and Olive are frequently on their own when it comes to clean-up. If the village were to pitch in, unionized DPW workers would have to be used, costing as much as $40 or $50 an hour. 

"It's not a good use of taxpayer money," explained Nyack trustee Jen Laird-White.

The village is working on other, more proactive solutions, however. Where the proposed fell short, stricter legislation may work. A new noise ordinance could make it so a bar's noise cannot go beyond the curbline out front.

"Essentially, noise can't leave the building," explained Walter Sevastian, village attorney. Further, it would require the watering holes—which can stay open until 4 a.m.—to keep their doors closed starting at 1 a.m.

A workshop is set for November, and a number of Nyack business owners are rooting for the resolution—including Jack Dunnigan, the owner of who also lives downtown.

"The murming of the crowd is one thing, but the music is another," he said. "It creates a roar... [inebriated people] are milling around until 5, 6 and 7 a.m.