A State Senator from the Buffalo area is introducing legislation that would allow “duck derbies” to continue on the Erie Canal.
Republican Rob Ortt of North Tonawanda issued a news release saying his bill will allow games of chance to be conducted on state-owned property if they’re raising funds for good causes.
Communities up-and-down the Erie Canal have used duck derbies as part of their summer festivals. You buy a rubber duck, they’re all dumped off a bridge into the canal, and the owner of the first duck that floats to the end of the course wins.
But this year, Brockport Canal Days officials decided to check with the State Gaming Commission and found they’d been violating state law for decades and quickly ditched the derby. Other canal towns had to do the same.
Senator Ortt says New York has a lot of antiquated and illogical laws, and this is one of them.