There's a kink this year for the tradition of all-night liquor licenses for the New Year's celebrations at a couple Cayuga County taverns.

When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, all-night permits - which allow bars to stay open until 8 a.m. - aren't issued by the state Liquor Authority in keeping with the state's alcoholic beverage control law. Because alcohol cannot be sold legally between 4 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Sundays, revelers will have to close out their public celebrations at the normal Cayuga County closing time of 2 a.m.

Bar owners Marcy Albino, proprietor of Union Springs' Legends Tavern, and John Stevens, proprietor of Auburn tavern Spirits, said they're not too mournful that liquor licenses aren't allowed this year because people are acclimated to a 2 a.m. closing time.

“People are creatures of habit,” Stevens said. “They are used to a 2 a.m. closing. When you do have an all-night license, they really are only able to stay up for one or two hours more.”

The night permit only gives patrons more time to wind up their night of carousing, Albino said.

On a typical New Year's, Spirits has a band playing until 3 a.m. and they usually close around 4 or 4:30 a.m., Stevens said. People have stopped drinking and start drinking coffee instead. Cabs or designated drivers are arranged for partyers.

Stevens, who has owned Sprits for more than 20 years, has secured a night license every year. He used to keep the bar open until 5 a.m. when the drinking age was 18 and people were less concerned with the consequences of drinking and driving.

Albino has applied for night licenses for Legends since taking over the bar around 10 years ago, but the bar missed the application deadline last year. In prior years, patrons were mostly done with partying by 4 a.m., he said.

The prohibition this year means Albino gets to go home earlier in comparison to the year he had a night license and kept Legends open until 7 a.m.

Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net