In North Hempstead, the circus may no longer be banned on Sundays — Not that anyone is enforcing it

A close reading of the North Hempstead Town code bans walking a tightrope in front of a crowd on Sundays. Dancing with fire, riding a unicycle or flying from one trapeze to another before an adoring audience, also is prohibited. Same with riding a Ferris wheel and playing balloon darts.

That's because of an archaic law passed June 12, 1951, banning any “performance of a show, exhibition, circus, carnival or other exhibit” on Sundays and weekdays before 7 a.m.

Not that anyone in the town enforces the Sunday carnival ban. The ban on circuses and carnivals has not been enforced for some time, Town Attorney Richard Nicolello said. Carnivals and live events in the town fall on Sundays all the time and have for many years, he added.

"It reflects society from 50 years ago ... " Nicolello said in an interview.

With that in mind, lawyers in the town attorney's office are considering rolling back the restriction on Sunday shows as part of an extensive modernization of the town code.

Last month, the town board overturned several other laws that officials say are outdated, including the requirement that a copy of the town code be kept in the clerk’s office in “loose-leaf form.” It isn't, and town officials don't know the last time it ever was. The legislation allows the code to be published digitally, as it is now, on the town’s website.

Existing laws fail to “reflect current reality,” Nicolello said. The rewrite effort “is more or less to void the sections that don’t make sense anymore."

Blue laws

The prohibition on the shows likely dates back to the days of the so-called "blue laws," when certain activities were restricted on Sundays across the United States.

In New York, for instance, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law of 1892 prohibits the sale of liquor within 200 feet of houses of worship and schools. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed several exemptions to the law in 2024 to help expand alcohol sales. 

Circus bans were common across the United States dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s, said Janet Davis, an American studies and history professor at the University of Texas at Austin. That coincided with the "Second Great Awakening," a revival of Protestant values, said Davis, who is also the author of "The Circus Age."

When people flocked to the suburbs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the focus shifted more to at-home, family-centric activities, she added.

"That kind of private, in-home, family-focused world meant that these giant public entertainments, like baseball, for example, and the circus ... they take a huge hit during this era," Davis said in an interview. 

Ranjit Dighe, a professor at the State University of New York at Oswego who has researched the economics and politics of domestic alcohol sales, said religious reasons could be behind the alcohol and circus prohibitions.

"Sunday blue laws were originally about keeping the Sabbath holy," Dighe wrote in an email. "It may be that commercial pressures made a blanket Sabbath prohibition on work untenable and that some religious folks tried to make sure that no frivolous or inessential work was done on Sundays."

Other LI rules

The ban is not without precedent on Long Island. The Village of Babylon's code states “no person shall exhibit, give, present or conduct any circus or menagerie, any theatrical representation or show, any carnival, performance or exhibition whatsoever, or any game, racing or public sport or exercise on the first day of the week, commonly known as 'Sunday.' "

The Town of East Hampton does not ban what days the circus can take place, but shows featuring "animals or animal cats" are prohibited. So are "carnivals, festivals or similar events which include mechanical rides," unless they are sponsored by a charitable organization. In those cases, one merry-go-round or carousel ride is permitted, according to the town code. 

The town also removed the $50 cap on reimbursement fees for public officials who attend professional conferences.

The town has yet to vote on amending the circus and carnival ban. 

Nicolello said several events regularly held in the town on Sundays can be considered carnivals.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, the board passed a resolution authorizing the John Michael Marino Lodge to hold its annual Italian festival at North Hempstead Beach Park in Port Washington. The festival, which will include carnival staples like zeppole and a Ferris wheel, will run from Sept. 4 through 7 — a Sunday. 

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.