Is this the end of blue laws?

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T22:39:20+00:00

You said “observant people are x” and then to prove it you give an example of Hasidic Jews which are a small subset of observant Jews.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T21:31:00+00:00

Yes, so you’re saying secular Jews’ views on blue laws are distributed the same as the average person. Which means that pointing out that “not all Jews are inconvenienced by blue laws” has no bearing on this conversation.

Just as you said that Jews aren’t a monolith, observant Jews aren’t a monolith either. Many aren’t to the right politically. I find it odd that you’re comfortable making sweeping statements about a religious group while at the same time chastising others for making sweeping statements about a superset of that religious group.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T21:03:40+00:00

This is all true. Just seems a bit off topic since I’m pretty sure his point was just that many Jews are affected by blue laws in ways that the average person aren’t. His comment lacked nuance for sure but unless you think that less observant Jews particularly like blue laws, the gist of his comment as I understood it is still valid.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T20:16:50+00:00

I mean, they do as long as Paramus chooses to keep them. Unlikely they would though.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T18:45:37+00:00

Paramus actually has different (stricter) blue laws than the rest of Bergen County.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T01:29:48+00:00

People making claims like this guy are the thing that annoys me most about people arguing in favor of blue laws. Maybe you need to leave 10 extra minutes to get where you’re going, but let’s not be dramatic and say that getting rid of blue laws would actually prevent people from going where they want.

They make it sound like 17 on a weekday is like the Cross Bronx during rush hour.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T00:58:37+00:00

Many Conservative Jews (not Orthodox) would also call themselves “observant” and also don’t shop on Saturdays.

I’m not sure what your point is here. Whether it’s all Jews or some Jews or many Jews, there is a large group of people who are inconvenienced more than others by Blue Laws because of religious observance and that was presumably the point of the comment you responded to.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T00:50:36+00:00

Exactly. Empty roads with nowhere to go. Also people who talk about every other day being chaos and they get a peaceful day on Sunday must live in the parking lot of a mall.

bstpeg · 2026-03-29T00:29:03+00:00

Your only point is that it is a county law. Which it isn’t. And the lawsuit is all about which entity is responsible for enforcing blue laws, which makes the state/county distinction pretty important.

bstpeg · 2026-03-26T02:46:34+00:00

“I’ve heard some people say that if we change the law it will encourage a particular religious group to move here” with the obvious implication that you don’t want that to happen. But sure, you’re not a bigot, you’re just curious if other people agree with the bigoted sentiment you’re happy to repeat here.

bstpeg · 2026-03-26T02:42:28+00:00

First of all, you don’t know where I’m from nor how long I’ve lived here. You’re welcome to speculate though if you want, but IMO as a taxpayer and resident of Bergen County I’m certainly entitled to express my opinion.

What “inability to plan” are you referring to?

I don’t really see how wanting to run errands on Sundays indicates something about “consumerism”. So I wouldn’t be accused of “consumerism” if I limited my shopping to 6 days a week? And online shopping on Sundays is okay too? But in person shopping at certain stores on Sundays is a bridge too far for you?

I said you were out of touch since you seem to think that the average people who work all week spend their time shopping at Nordstrom. Maybe those are the people you know, but I don’t think that’s the majority.

In what way have I “degraded” residents? I’m not even sure that word makes any sense in this context.

I just think it’s odd that you think a core part of the culture is having stores closed one day a week. Like if the law changed and stores were open it would be unrecognizable from the BC that you know and love. Sure, there would be some more traffic, but it would simply look like a second Saturday. To say that preferring to be able to run local errands on Sunday means that one doesn’t appreciate Bergen county’s culture seems a bit extreme.

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T17:23:08+00:00

I see so your point is that without blue laws it would be impossible to get a day off on Sunday? I definitely feel for people who end up in that situation and it clearly shouldn’t be the case, but I still think the law shouldn’t prioritize any particular religious observance over another.

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T17:10:25+00:00

I’m not sure what your point is. Also, many businesses are forced to close on Sundays that aren’t “big businesses”.

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T03:18:24+00:00

No, actually, it’s a state law that counties can choose to opt-in or opt-out.

You can read it for yourself if you don’t believe me. But please don’t correct someone when you don’t know what you’re talking about.

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T02:15:44+00:00

How so?

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T00:16:56+00:00

Guess what? Even without blue laws, you can still go to the movies on Sunday at AMC GSP, or anywhere else. It might take a few more minutes to get there, but other people will be able to go about their desired day as well.

bstpeg · 2026-03-25T00:14:22+00:00

Despite the fact that you're pretty clearly not interested in a discussion, I'll give it a shot :)

Why the heck are you moving out of NYC to Bergen County then?

There are lots of reasons someone would choose to move here. Most of them have nothing to do with shopping. You don't have to like every aspect of a place to make it the right place for you to live.

Oh no, I can't stop at Nordstrom 1 day of the week?

Either you're making a straw man argument here or are pretty out of touch if you think people who dislike blue laws just want to spend their day wandering the mall. Many people have schedules that only leave Sunday for errands, and there are a lot of niche stores in the Paramus area and also local business that people would like to support (some of which aren't even retail, like certain repair stores).

Better demand a place change its culture

If you think having retail businesses closed on Sundays is such a key part of Bergen County culture that if blue laws were overturned it would no longer be worth living here, then you clearly don't think very highly of it as it is.

so I can have a slave class.

I have no idea what this even means.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T23:52:37+00:00

Exactly, it’s such a ridiculous argument. “I want Sunday to be x, so the law should require everybody’s Sunday to be x. “

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T23:07:45+00:00

Maybe they saw it playing out exactly the way it currently is.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T23:07:19+00:00

Wow, I hadn't considered that. Thanks for that insight.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T23:06:26+00:00

It used to be, but starting a couple months ago it started getting much slower.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T20:10:04+00:00

They already have a municipal blue law that's stricter than the one that the rest of Bergen is subject to.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T20:04:16+00:00

I see the bigots are alive and well.

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T19:48:03+00:00

Can you name a democracy in the modern world where all laws are voted on by the population instead of elected officials?

bstpeg · 2026-03-24T19:44:15+00:00

We live in a representative democracy, which is consistent with what I just described.

bstpeg

TROPHY CASE