They believe all alcohol -- beer, wine and liquor -- should be banned. It's the major long-term objective for the people behind a newly reorganized political party in New York.

They belong to the appropriately named New York Prohibition Party. Founded in 1869, it went dormant in the 1940s, about a decade after the end of America's big experiment with national Prohibition.

In 2017, a small group of true believers set out to re-establish the state party. They followed in the footsteps of a re-emerging national Prohibition Party, the oldest continuously operating third party in the country.

The ultimate goal "is to establish a lasting prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, to abolish the alcohol industry, and to establish a teetotal culture," party officials said in a set of answers to emailed questions from NYup.com.

They argue alcohol is bad for public health, safety and morals -- at a cost of $16 billion "in social, medical, and economic damages" in New York each year.

But that's not all. The New York Prohibition Party is also energized by the chance to fight Gov. Andrew Cuomo's support for New York's craft alcohol industry. In recent years, the state has spent millions of dollars on tax credits, economic development grants and other incentives to help boost the number and size of breweries, wineries and distilleries from Long Island to Buffalo. New York now has more than 1,000 alcohol manufacturers -- double the number since 2012 -- and ranks in the top 5 in each alcohol category nationwide.

"Governor Cuomo is perhaps the worst governor on alcohol issues that our state has had since Herbert Lehman (New York's governor when Prohibition ended in 1933)," the NY Prohibition Party says. "His support for the alcohol industry is unethical and has harmed the people of New York."

'Positive influence'

The New York Prohibition Party has only about a dozen members recognized by the national party. Three of them -- Russell Hallock of Washingtonville in the Hudson Valley, Robert A. Emery of Albany and Jonathan Makeley of Amherst near Buffalo, serve on the Prohibition Party's national committee.

Hallock, Emery and Makeley re-launched the New York Prohibition Party in September 2017.

"The motivation for re-establishing our state party organization was to have a positive influence on the condition of our state," the party officials said in the emails. "To promote good government based in moral principle, ethical public service, and policies to advance the public wellbeing. To promote temperance, to advance policies to deal with the problem of alcohol in our society, and to advance other reforms to help build a better future for the people of New York state."

To date, no one from the renewed party has held public office. Makeley, who is also the state party's chairman, is running as a write-in candidate for the State Assembly's 146th District in western New York in the November election. He failed in his attempt to gather enough signatures to make the ballot.

A statement on Makeley's campaign website indicates support for alcohol restrictions, but falls short of advocating total prohibition.

"I support stronger efforts to reduce the harms of alcohol and other drugs," the Facebook statement says, "including increased prevention efforts, expanded addiction treatment, stronger enforcement, stronger DUI/DWI laws, increased restrictions on the alcohol industry, and ending state support for industries which harm the public health."

He also calls for government ethics reform, abolishing the statute of limitations for rape and the sexual abuse of children, "fixing the state's education financing to ensure that all schools are adequately funded" and other issues.

'End state support for alcohol'

It's clear that Cuomo's use of state resources to support the alcohol industry is a sore point with the members of the NY Prohibition Party. Cuomo, who is running for re-election in November, frequently touts his efforts since he hosted what he billed as a "Beer, Wine and Spirits Summit" in October 2012.

Since then, the state has cut fees and regulations for alcohol producers, allowed brewers and distillers to sell alcohol by the glass in their tasting rooms, rolled back the ban on Sunday alcohol sales from noon to 10 a.m. and adopted other pro-alcohol industry practices.

Beyond that, the state has awarded grants and/or tax credits to support specific alcohol manufacturing expansions. In the brewery industry alone, recipients have included Ellicottville and Woodcock Brothers in western New York, Genesee and Other Half Brewing in the Rochester area and Empire and Good Nature Brewing in Central New York, among others. The state even kicked in money to support a TV show, "Brewed in New York," that airs on PBS stations and promotes the state's beer industry.

"Our present activism on the alcohol issue focuses on trying to end state support for the alcohol industry, to encourage our state to address alcohol as a social and public health problem," NY Prohibition Party party officials wrote in their emails. They said they want to end grants and tax breaks for the alcohol industry, end "efforts to weaken state restrictions," "stop state agencies from being used to promote the alcohol industry," and "shift away from treating vice industries as if they were some sort of revenue cash cow."

The party urge more efforts to curb addiction and "expand education on the harms of alcohol and the benefits of teetotalism."

The state's "pro-alcohol policies are making New York sicker, poorer, and more highly taxed," the Prohibition Party leaders said. "Those in state government should come to their senses and end state support for the alcohol industry, or the people should vote to replace them with public servants who will."

The re-emergence of the Prohibition Party also comes as New York has promoted an increase in gambling casinos and is considering the legalization of recreational marijuana. Among its other stands, the party opposes state-supported gambling and intoxicating drugs.

The Prohibition Party has also worked to encourage towns in the state that are "dry" or partly dry (having some restrictions on alcohol use and sales) to stay that way. Today, across the state, eight towns are completely dry and another 36 are partly dry.

Positive on Prohibition

Of course, Prohibition was the law of the land from 1920 to 1933. For many people, it's known as a time of high-crime, the rise of gangsters and increased production of illegal hooch.

The leaders of the NY Prohibition Party do not agree.

"For decades, the wets have promoted the myth that prohibition was a failure, and had led to increased crime and the rise (of the) mafia," they wrote. "But this is not historically accurate. National Prohibition brought about the largest reduction in drinking in our nation's history. While some people may have illegally produced and sold alcohol, it was far smaller than the legal alcohol industry that was largely destroyed by national prohibition. There was actually a general decrease in crime during the prohibition era, coming largely from reductions in crimes that were often committed by people in a state of intoxication."

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach, right, watching agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of prohibition, circa 1921. Photo credit: Library of Congress Library of Congress

Alcohol, the party leaders claim, kills 88,000 Americans a year -- more devastating, they say, than anything that happened during Prohibition.

"The only people who have gained from legalization are the alcohol companies profiting off selling their toxic product, and the media, advertisers, and politicians who the alcohol industry pays off," the party leaders wrote.

Still, that image of Prohibition as a failure lingers as a big hurdle for the Prohibition Party to overcome. Party leaders acknowledge they have a long way to go to rebuild the organization and win followers.

"We've been working to gradually grow our membership, build our organization, and form connections with groups that share common goals with us," they wrote.

"... Prohibition helped to improve the economic conditions of many -- improving worker productivity and freeing up money that was previously wasted on alcohol," the party leaders wrote. "... While it may not have worked out ideally, National Prohibition brought about a variety of social and public benefits."

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.