civil litigation rules under NY civil procedure responding to a summons and complaint

The short answer to your question is "No", it is NOT true that service cannot be effected on the weekend. The type of service effected typically differs, depending on the nature of the underlying matter. For example, in support matters, the summons is typically served by the Family Court by mail. Service is deemed effected when the summons is placed in the mail, not when it is received, and it is rarely the case when the Family Court places something in the mail on the weekend. In family offense proceedings (where an order of protection is requested), service of the summons is typically effected by personal service (i.e. papers are hand delivered by the sheriff, a police officer, a process server, or any other person over the age of 18 who is not a party to the action). Pursuant to the Family Court Act, a summons in an action where an order of protection is requested can be served on ANY day of the week, at ANY time of day, so claiming that you were served on the weekend would be meaningless. To sum up, I do not recommend ignoring a summons to appear in Family Court no matter what day of the week you receive the summons. You would be better off appearing in Court and contesting the type of service (if you were not served in the proper fashion) than to contest the service based on the day of the week.