It's now legal to get a haircut in New York on Sundays. No, it wasn't before.

If you've ever gotten a haircut or professional shave on a Sunday in New York, you've benefited from criminal activity. Until yesterday, it was illegal for someone to practice barbering on Sundays. Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to immediately end the prohibition. From the Times Union:

It had a fine of $5 for a first offense; a second offense could cost $10 to $25 and a trip to the county jail for 10 to 25 days.

"That is the very definition of an archaic and meaningless law that makes little to no sense in the 21st century," Cuomo said in a statement[…]

The old Sunday law may have been related to the bootlegging business, Politico noted. The Senate agreed to the law on a 28-to-12 vote, according to the New York Times. A Bronx Democrat tried to exempt New York City and Saratoga Springs from the law, but was unsuccessful. One senator called the law "a measure to promote bootlegging in barbershops."

image (cropped): Willjay (CC BY-SA 3.0)