Capital Region bars prepare for Thanksgiving Eve rush
CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The night before Thanksgiving is often referred to as “Drinksgiving," because bars become packed with patrons visiting their hometowns.
Bill Geltzeiler, bartender at The Copper Crow in Albany, is mentally preparing for a busy night on Broadway. He said he’s well versed on tactics to help patrons out of uncomfortable situations, with strategies he learned in the Albany Safer Bars program.
“Diversions: this includes 'nonverbal checking' with the person, making sure they’re O.K.," Geltzeiler explained, "you can write a note on a receipt. You can do a lot of different things to ensure that everyone feels safe in the bar.”
While all-night happy hour specials will be sure to keep drinks flowing at the Copper Crow, Geltzeiler said he knows when it’s time to cut someone off.
“We don’t serve someone who is too visibly intoxicated, and no one should,” he added.
Downtown Saratoga is another popular spot on Thanksgiving Eve.
Saratoga County landed itself the top spot in the state on a study for excessive drinking, with 24 percent of adults reporting binge drinking or heavy drinking. Todd Shimkus from the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce defended that figure, pointing to other destinations included in the study, like Newport County Rhode Island just behind them at 23 percent.
“That’s what happens when you have a vibrant downtown and people come out to have fun there," Shimkus said, "so it’s a part of doing business here. People have to act responsibly.”
According to Shimkus, staff at bars communicate with each other and the police throughout the night to ensure an overly intoxicated person, or someone causing a disturbance, is stopped in their tracks.
“I guarantee you, if you’ve been making trouble in one place, your photo is being shared with all the other bars right at that moment, and they’re being alerted that you should not get in,” Shimkus said.
According to Saratoga Springs Police Lt. Paul Veitch, Thanksgiving Eve’s one of their busiest nights of the year, and additional patrol shifts and DWI patrols will be out.
A bar in Downtown Troy has a "See Something, Say Something" initiative to enhance patron safety. At The Ruck, customers who are being harassed can scan a QR code posted throughout the bar, and discretely and anonymously report it to bar staff.
"Access to this feedback not only helps our staff to detect and prevent problems that may arise, but also serves our patrons as well. It is our duty to the community that we make sure anyone who walks through our doors has an enjoyable and comfortable time," said The Ruck owner Dave Gardell.
Gardell went on to say it is not an "end all be all solution," but that any opportunity to prevent bad situations is worth exploring.