How Late Should Bars Stay Open In CT? Take The Patch Survey

CONNECTICUT — Proposed legislation in Hartford would establish a pilot program under which alcohol may be served until 4 a.m. in certain Connecticut cities.

Municipalities participating in the delayed last-call program would be Bridgeport, Danbury, Hartford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury and West Hartford.

The bill was introduced by State Rep. Christopher Rosario, who represents Bridgeport.

Current law allows Connecticut establishments to serve alcohol until 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on the weekends. Towns like Danbury, which border states where alcohol flows daily to 4 a.m., now have insurmountable late-night competition.

Tatiana Riney, one of the managers at Molly Darcy's Irish Pub and Restaurant on the Danbury-New York border, sees the proposed legislation as a sword that can cut both ways.

"We get a lot of our customers come over from the border, a lot of folks get very confused when we're closing, especially on Thursdays when we're closed down at one o'clock in the morning," Riney told Patch.

"But there's going to be a cost. We're going to have to keep security on longer… because things get messier after hours. Hopefully, there's going to be more revenue to help out with those costs and everything else."

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