Don't roll back the closing time for bars & restaurants

Some people get out of work late. This would not be fair to them.

This will solve absolutely nothing, but will adversely affect owners and employees in the hospitality industry.

Local musicians will be hurt if shows have to end earlier than usual . closing 2 hours early wont really change much and may even put more drunks on the road.

Keep it open!

Ordinances ruin nightlife opportunitys. Live music suffers as well as all entertainment.

Dear Sirs and Madams, I am writing to voice my opposition to changing closing time in county bars from 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. I’m sure you’ve heard the arguments against such a move, but please allow me to list a few here: • Recently, it was noted that Erie County ranked 48th of 62 counties in NYS for DWI related fatalities, and ranks in bottom third of those counties for alcohol-related traffic accidents, making this measure unnecessary. • Many police officials are of the opinion that an earlier closing time would merely move the time of potential alcohol-related disturbances, not curtail them. • Many bars already choose to close well before 4:00 a.m., making this measure unnecessary. In fact, because of this I would like to see no official closing time. • Many patrons of bars between midnight and 4:00 a.m. are not habitual drunks, but rather restaurant workers and second- or third-shifters just getting off work. • Websites like TripAdvisor tout Buffalo for its 4:00 a.m. closing time, giving the city a more cosmopolitan image and a “one up” on many other cities that must shut down two hours earlier. • There would be a significant loss in local entertainment revenues just as our region is starting to pick up as a tourist destination. (In fact, the increase in downtown nightlife is one of the things local boosters regularly point to as proof of our city’s resurgence.) Small local businesses would take the hardest hit. • One study showed actually showed an increase, rather than decrease, in DWIs after closing hours were made earlier due to the “drinking to beat the clock” effect. • This move could be interpreted as yet another example of government unnecessarily intruding in free enterprise and people’s lives. In short, I believe this proposed change is a terrible idea and I sincerely hope that you agree and will vote accordingly.

The 4 AM closing time is a distinctive aspect of our growing city.

Don't roll it back and take away from the coolness this otherwise desolate city has to offer

Keep bars open until 4 am.. in fact... let them stay open as long as they want to. 24 hours if that's what they want. It makes no difference. But then I don't drink anyway. I think people should be able to have a place to hang out... to drink or not drink... at any time of day or night. Keep people off the streets... let them hang out in a safe place... and provide jobs for the people who work there. Then there could also be more jobs for taxi drivers.

Some of our best music events at local bars and clubs to until 4am. Limiting the time to 2am would be a great detriment to this city's night life and after-hours culture, which is a very big part of what makes Buffalo so much more fun than any other city in Upstate NY.

I am a bartender. If a bar wants to close early than close early. If you want to be open until 4 am than stay open. No one is forcing you to remain open.

Erie County is known regionally for the 4AM shutoff, and our friends from out of town praise it. 4AM means more business and more hours for workers, as well as accommodations for third shift employees.

Come on keep Buffalo fun, progressive and allow restaurant and all other employees the opportunity to have their own late night/early morning happy hour, most of us are hard working responsible individuals.

As a third shift worker I don't get put of work until 2am, would like to still be able to get a after work drink to relax with.

Let's do what is good for business and workers, keep the 4am close. The facts just support any type of change.

Keep them open!

Keep businesses open. Don't cater to a few with their own agenda.

The increase in minimum wage and then cutting the hours that buffalo establishments can be opened with seriously harm our economy. Additionally with the focus on Canadian tourism I believe it will hurt that aspect of making buffalo an attractive place. It will increase gambling by casinos being the only thing in town opened and reduce local tax income. There are already young people leaving in droves don't add another reason to look for a different place to call home.

Why eliminate something that makes Buffalo and Erie County distinctive - and what many visitors to the city call, "cool" and helps sustain the county's hospitality industry and its many jobs? This bill is shortsighted.

Don't close the bars at 2!!!!!