Have You Heard About This Strange Law That Exists in One Hudson Valley Town?

The things you know? Your mother probably made sure to dress you in an outfit that somehow always matched when you were a kid. This assured that your parents could get that one memorable photograph of you on the first day of school, or during the holidays that they could frame and mount on the mantle. But perhaps color coordinating your clothes could keep you out of trouble with the law later in life?

Now, wearing mismatched clothing may make you stand out in a weird way, but did you know in one Hudson Valley town it's apparently illegal? As strange as this sounds, it is a crime for men in the Town of Carmel to go outside while wearing pants and a jacket that don't match. Did anyone know this was a law? Some of us better hide.

Obviously, this is not something that is ever enforced, and probably goes back many years ago. We couldn't track the origins of this curious law, and why it was ever passed to begin with. Perhaps some local wives in town pushed to have this law passed to teach their men how to dress properly? But crazy laws like this are in every state. If you search the internet for these crazy or stupid state laws, you'll find a plethora of weird and archaic rules, often dating back to the earliest days these states and towns were settled. Don't worry, you probably won't get arrested for wearing the wrong pair of pants or jacket in Carmel. Unless it's a Canadian Tuxedo.

Our state has some real doozies for laws though. But did you know that it is actually illegal to talk to strangers on an elevator in New York state? Slippers may not be worn after 10 PM. Flirting in New York is actually a $25 fine. And did you know that jumping off of a building is actually punishable by death? Well, you'll probably be dead anyway by the time you land, so that doesn't matter. Hey, in Greene, NY (Chenango County)  it is illegal to eat peanuts while walking backwards when a concert is playing. That's quite specific.

But there was actually a nearly two hundred year old weird law that was just repealed in 2020. At one time, the law said that New Yorkers couldn't congregate in public while wearing mask. That has now obviously changed.