Saratoga Springs is known for horses, but its residents drink like fishes, data show.
Twenty-four percent of the adult population in the upstate city drinks excessively, making it the “drunkest” city in New York state, according to a recent study.
The percentage of heavy drinkers in Saratoga is 5% above the naitonal average of 19%; 6% above the state average of 18%, and 7% higher than the NYC average of 17%.
More than 15 bars and clubs host thousands of visitors during the summer horse-racing season, with the heart of the city’s nightclub scene being on Caroline Street, according to wamc.org. Saratoga is also a magnet for its natural springs.
“There’s more bars on Caroline Street in one block than there is on Broadway,” trumpeted Jim Stanley, 76, longtime owner of the Saratoga Tin & Lint Co., where legend has it that Don McLean began writing the iconic pop song “American Pie” one night in the summer of 1970.
“We have a lot of people [drinking] on the street in the summertime,” he added.
In the Big Apple, Manhattan drinks the outer boroughs under the table at 22%. Staten Island — home to many first responders with high-pressure jobs — placed second at 18%, followed by Brooklyn with 17%, and Queens at 15%.
The Bronx, which clocked in at 14%, ranks as the lowest total in the city and state, the data revealed.
“Staten Islanders know how to celebrate a little better than some of the other boroughs,” quipped Cormac Gordon Jr., 52, co-owner of Duffy’s Tavern on Forest Avenue in West Brighton.
For those looking to drown their sorrows, the drunkest towns in the US are Columbia and Ozaukee counties in Wisconsin, where 29% of the adult population binge drink, the data show.
The driest place in the nation is Utah, which registered a teetotaling 8%, the stats say.
The data is from the 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.
Additional reporting by Michael McWeeney