North Hempstead repeals its Sunday circus ban

The Town of North Hempstead has updated its town code to overturn a ban on holding circuses and carnivals on Sundays.

The ban, on the books for almost 75 years, had not been enforced for "ages," Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in an emailed statement. The change is part of an effort to modernize outdated portions of the code.

“This section of the town code really mostly applied to an earlier era, a throwback,” town attorney Richard Nicolello said during the board meeting Tuesday, when the code was updated. “This covers for-profit events, circuses, fairs, held on non-town property.”

The previous version of the law had banned any “performance of a show, exhibition, circus, carnival or other exhibit,” on Sundays, as well as on weekdays after midnight.

The amendment, which also changes the name of the chapter in the code from “Circuses” to “Special events,” mandates that the “special event shall cease to operate and must be closed to the public no later than 10:00 pm Sunday through Thursday or 11:00 p.m. Friday through Saturday.”

The town also updated the application process to require an application fee “established by Town Board resolution” and increased the fine for violations of the code from $100 to $500. The town will determine the application fee at the August board meeting, Nicolello said over email.

“We’re updating a law that’s been sitting on the books since 1951," DeSena said. "Now when an entity holds a fair, carnival, or similar events on private property, they’ll have to file an application, insurance and other information with the Town. This is part of our larger effort to clean up town code and update it, making sure it’s reflective of modern life in North Hempstead today.”

The Sunday ban on carnivals and the circus likely stemmed from archaic “blue laws,” when particular activities were banned on that day of the week throughout the country.

Earlier in the year, the town overturned several other laws not in line with modern times, including a requirement that the town code be kept in the clerk’s office in “loose-leaf form.”

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.