I’ve been so distracted away from politics this summer that I hadn’t even noticed that the NY legislature and Governor Spitzer quietly legalized ticket scalping last month. Gotham Gazette takes a look at the new law today in its “Issue of the Week“:
On June 1, Governor Eliot Spitzer [signed] legislation that removes from the books almost all of the restrictions on the resale of tickets that have existed since the 1920s. In doing so, New York joined other states that have relaxed laws on reselling tickets. “Ticket scalping laws historically have not worked,” said Spitzer. “I think permitting a free market to work its magic there is the smart approach.
This wonderful news leaves me with but two regrets. One, if only Spitzer could be made to understand that “permitting the free market to work its magic is the smart approach” for all business, not just for scalpers. And two, if only this had happened 10 years ago, when I was still going to a lot of concerts. Now I’m middle-aged and married with three little kids and hardly ever get to a show. The last concert I went to was a couple years ago when I took my kids to see The Wiggles at MSG. The next concert I have tickets for is The Doodlebops this October. Lame, truly lame. Oh well, the rest of you young people can go get your ya-yas out, or whatever the hip lingo is these days.