Anti-Pinball Law Shuts Down N.Y. Arcade

cactussnack

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
California
Aug 13th 2010 By Emerald Catron

Anti-Pinball Law Shuts Down N.Y. Arcade
for the town Beacon, NY, found an old law on the books that said pinball machines are against the law. Now, they're using it to shut down a retro arcade museum that has had a few too many noise complaints.

No pinball?! Oh GAWD, it's like "Footloose" -- except we actually care about what's being banned.

Apparently pinball was outlawed in most of the country's major cities for a large chunk of the 20th century because politicians thought arcades were mafia-run rackets. And you thought Chuck E. Cheese was just a guy in a mouse suit.

The mayor has said that he wants to help the arcade stay in business, but, for now, since people are complaining and there's a law against it, there's nothing he can do to remedy the situation.

See video of the amazing vintage electro-mechanical machines at the arcade, as well as CNN's incredibly overblown emotional portrayal of the situation after the jump.
 
Apparently pinball was outlawed in most of the country's major cities for a large chunk of the 20th century because politicians thought arcades were mafia-run rackets.

They were. As were jukeboxes, and a lot of coin-op stuff.

It's not a coincidence that Midway was based in Chicago...
 
Back
Top Bottom