Times Union file photo.

One of my least-favorite quotes from local politicians resurfaced last week:

“Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, defending his refloating of the idea that Albany County bars close at 2 a.m. instead of two hours later, as has been the law for decades. (State law allows bars to serve alcohol from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday. Counties may set more restrictive hours.)

I first heard the quote from former Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings about nine years ago, when he proposed the same idea, which galvanized bar owners, employees and patrons to organize protests and to campaign against it. Current Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said something similar when I asked her about the possible rollback the other day, though she made clear that McCoy had not discussed the matter with her before going public. Sheehan told me she supports the compromise reached during the citywide rezoning three years that allowed existing businesses to keep their 4 a.m. closing time, with new businesses adhering to a 2 a.m. closure.

Let’s look at those words again: “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”

I hate the quote and the smug, superior mindset it implies. But politicians who use it are betting that much of the general public — most of whom are tucked in bed hours before 2 a.m. — seems to concur with the assertion, simplistically assuming that people who keep different hours than they do are at the very least immature, or lacking in adult responsibilities because they don’t have to be up before noon, or are only intent on drinking to excess, or are sure to behave nefariously and probably criminally.

I particularly hate the uncategorical nature of the statement: “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”

Really? Nothing? It’s B.S. I’d like to collect stories here about positive experiences you’ve had in bars, restaurants and nightclubs after 2 a.m. Please file them as comments below.

Asking that nightlife entrepreneurs voluntarily restrict their businesses’ hours, as Jennings’ administration did for city businesses, or requiring it by law countywide, as McCoy seems to want to explore, won’t solve the problems they’re meant to address. All of those problems — primarily underage drinking, overconsumption, and the unruly behavior and crime that result — can be diminished by enforcement of laws and rules already on the books. It’s absurd to ask businesses to willingly give up the lucrative period of 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. without first demanding that local police, code officials and investigators from the State Liquor Authority do their jobs. Albany County bar and restaurant owners understandably are opposed to a 2 a.m. closing time.

I haven’t looked up current statistics, but former Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff once told me city crime data show that more than half of assaults, sexual assaults and robberies between 2 and 5 a.m. happened within 500 feet of bars. Such incidents occur less often between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., Krokoff told me. I’d imagine they happen even less often before 11 p.m.

But that’s dodging the issue. Merely serving alcohol after a certain hour doesn’t increase crime. Bad things happen because the law isn’t enforced, because underage people “pregame” by getting drunk before going out, and because bars and clubs are allowed to continue to serve booze to people not old enough to drink.

The solution is enforcement, not an arbitrary rule that will send business out of Albany County.