What Does New York States Open Container Law Mean?

New York State is one where you cannot buy wine, liquor and beer in the same store. It is also the same state where you can buy beer at the drug store or the convenience mart at 8 am on Sunday, but on that same Sunday you will need to wait until noon to purchase wine or liquor. Some states are different.

Each state in the nation also has different laws about open containers. For instance, in New Orleans or Las Vegas (Louisiana and Nevada) you can walk around the streets with a beer, a margarita, pretty much anything your heart desires to drink you can do there.

What does New York State mean when it says, "Open Container Law?"

New York considers an open container to be a container that holds drinking alcohol in it and it is had the seal broken. It can be open, but none of the liquid consumed, once the bottle (or can or box, etc) seal is cracked, it can be consumed from. 

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Is there a legal way to have an open container of alcohol in the car?

Yes, the open container can be locked in the trunk of the car, where it is unable to be accessed by the driver or a passenger. You can also, which seems to me to be an odd way around this law, if you are on foot, or on the train, you can put your container of alcohol into a brown paper bag. Then consuming it from the brown paper bag, while you are in the walking around town situations, will not get you ticketed unless you are aiming for a drunk and disorderly.

Have you ever been consuming your alcoholic beverage while it was being disguised by the paper bag?