Charles Lavine moves to repeal ‘outdated’ adultery ban

It’s the New York state of affairs.

New York’s “antiquated” ban on extramarital sex could soon be scrubbed from the books thanks to a new bill proposed in the state legislature.

Under the state law enacted in 1907, adultery is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine. Fewer than a dozen people have been charged under the statute over the last five decades.

But Long Island Assemblyman Charles Lavine believes it is time to do away with the statute — noting it has primarily been used to target women.

“The fact of the matter is in New York and elsewhere, it is primarily women who are prosecuted for this offense,” the Glen Cove Democrat told The Post on Wednesday.

“Because most of those charged are women, it stigmatizes and victimizes women.”

The 76-year-old married man noted that his wife was also on board with the repeal push because she is “a huge advocate for women’s rights and human rights.”

The law appears to have been written in an attempt to curb the Empire State’s divorce rate, at a time when claiming adultery was the only paths to legally split up, according to Politico.

Lavine noted it was “impossible to determine how many prosecutions” happened in the early days.

But at least five people have been convicted of it since the 1970s, his office said, most recently in 2010.

That year, a married Batavia woman, Suzanne Corona, was charged with adultery after being arrested for having sex with another man on a playground.

She later pleaded guilty to public lewdness after prosecutors dropped the more serious adultery charge, according to CBS News.

At Grand Central Terminal Wednesday, most New Yorkers agreed that it was time to decriminalize infidelity.

“As a New Yorker, too, we mind our business a lot. So I would mind my business really. To send somebody to jail for cheating that’s kind of crazy. People make mistakes. Going to jail for that – nah,” said recovery coordinator Fred Paterson, 27.

Kiscada Hastings, a finance worker, said he thought the current law was “crazy.”

“It’s New York City. Dude, I live in Bushwick. If you’re charging people with infidelity, this is just not going to work. Polyamory is taking over the city,” said Hastings.

“This law is not up with the way that people experience love at this point in time…Trying to find love in New York, it’s difficult for all of us.”

Photographer Rhonda Lindle, 59, is going through divorce proceedings following a 30 year marriage. She explained that her husband cheated on her “many times before we separated,” but said she wouldn’t never have called the cops during the marital woes.

“It seems pretty silly,” she said of the current adultery ban.

“I think [the repeal] is a good move because it’s very expensive to get divorced for various reasons that I think they should live their lives,” Lindle said.

“Some people stay married for their taxes, some people stay married because one of them has a job that they can get health insurance through.”

Recently-married Millie Rosen, 33, is three months away from celebrating her wedding anniversary.

“It seems incredibly outdated and a waste of resources if someone was to prosecute under the law. I would mind my own business,” the consultant said.

Regulatory affairs worker Chuck Callan, 68, agreed.

“As a general matter, I don’t think things should be legislated in the bedroom or for that matter, in the backseat of a car,” he said

However, not everyone was thrilled with the proposed repeal. Angelica Christine, a 25-year-old unmarried woman who works as a guest experience ambassador said the current rules are an effective way to “hold somebody accountable” and make them face “consequences” for cheating.

Christine said she would “call the police” if her spouse cheated on her, and said the law as it stands encourages “more loyalty, more faithfulness.”

“They should go to jail for it. They should get locked up,” Christine said, after disclosing that she had been cheated on before.

Section 255.17 of the penal code says that a suspect is guilty if “he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.”

That language might not be around much longer though — Lavine’s bill was “overwhelmingly” approved in the Assembly and could be introduced in the state Senate by sponsor Liz Krueger by the end of the legislative session.

“This bill is a good bill, and I am pleased that it is passed,” Lavine said.

“While I recognize that some people might think that this is kind of funny, it’s certainly not funny to the people who were prosecuted under this antiquated and anachronistic bill.”