N.Y. Alcoholic Beverage Control Law § 64-b: License to sell liquor on premises commonly known as a bottle club

§ 64-b. License to sell liquor on premises commonly known as a bottle

club. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership or corporation

operating a place for profit or pecuniary gain, with a capacity for the

assemblage of twenty or more persons to permit a person or persons to

come to the place of assembly for the purpose of consuming alcoholic

beverages on said premises, which alcoholic beverages are either

provided by the operator of the place of assembly, his agents, servants

or employees, or are brought onto said premises by the person or persons

assembling at such place, unless an appropriate license has first been

obtained from the state liquor authority by the operator of said place

of assembly. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the

definition of place of assembly in this chapter or any other law.

Nothing contained herein shall prohibit or restrict the leasing or use

of such place of assemblage as defined herein by any organization or

club enumerated in subdivision seven hereof.

2. Upon or after the effective date hereof any person may make an

application to the appropriate board for a special license to operate a

bottle club.

3. Such application shall be in such form and shall contain such

information as shall be required by the rules of the liquor authority

and shall be accompanied by a check or draft in the amount required by

this article for such license.

4. Section fifty-four of this chapter shall control so far as

applicable the procedure in connection with such application.

5. (a) No bottle club license shall be granted for any premises which

shall be

(i) on the same street or avenue and within two hundred feet of a

building occupied exclusively as a school, church, synagogue or other

place of worship; or

(ii) in a city, town or village having a population of twenty thousand

or more within five hundred feet of three or more existing premises

licensed and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four,

sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article;

(iii) the measurements in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph

are to be taken in straight lines from the center of the nearest

entrance of the premises sought to be licensed to the center of the

nearest entrance of such school, church, synagogue or other place of

worship or to the center of the nearest entrance of each such premises

licensed and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four,

sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article; except

that no license shall be denied to any premises at which a license under

this chapter has been in existence continuously from a date prior to the

date when a building on the same street or avenue and within two hundred

feet of said premises has been occupied exclusively as a school, church,

synagogue or other place of worship; and except that no license shall be

denied to any premises, which is within five hundred feet of three or

more existing premises licensed and operating pursuant to this section

and sections sixty-four, sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d

of this article, at which a license under this chapter has been in

existence continuously on or prior to November first, nineteen hundred

ninety-three. The liquor authority, in its discretion, may authorize the

removal of any such licensed premises to a different location on the

same street or avenue, within two hundred feet of said school, church,

synagogue or other place of worship, provided that such new location is

not within a closer distance to such school, church, synagogue or other

place of worship.

(b) Within the context of this subdivision, the word "entrance" shall

mean a door of a school, of a house of worship, or of premises licensed

and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four,

sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article or of

the premises sought to be licensed, regularly used to give ingress to

students of the school, to the general public attending the place of

worship, and to patrons or guests of the premises licensed and operating

pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four, sixty-four-a,

sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article or of the premises

sought to be licensed, except that where a school or house of worship or

premises licensed and operating pursuant to this section and sections

sixty-four, sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this

article or the premises sought to be licensed is set back from a public

thoroughfare, the walkway or stairs leading to any such door shall be

deemed an entrance; and the measurement shall be taken to the center of

the walkway or stairs at the point where it meets the building line or

public thoroughfare. A door which has no exterior hardware, or which is

used solely as an emergency or fire exit, or for maintenance purposes,

or which leads directly to a part of a building not regularly used by

the general public or patrons, is not deemed an "entrance".

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph

(a) of this subdivision, the authority may issue a license pursuant to

this section for a premises which shall be within five hundred feet of

three or more existing premises licensed and operating pursuant to this

section and sections sixty-four, sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or

sixty-four-d of this article if, after consultation with the

municipality or community board, it determines that granting such

license would be in the public interest. Before it may issue any such

license, the authority shall conduct a hearing, upon notice to the

applicant and the municipality or community board, and shall state and

file in its office its reasons therefor. The hearing may be rescheduled,

adjourned or continued, and the authority shall give notice to the

applicant and the municipality or community board of any such

rescheduled, adjourned or continued hearing. Before the authority issues

any said license, the authority or one or more of the commissioners

thereof may, in addition to the hearing required by this paragraph, also

conduct a public meeting regarding said license, upon notice to the

applicant and the municipality or community board. The public meeting

may be rescheduled, adjourned or continued, and the authority shall give

notice to the applicant and the municipality or community board of any

such rescheduled, adjourned or continued public meeting. Notice to the

municipality or community board shall mean written notice mailed by the

authority to such municipality or community board at least fifteen days

in advance of any hearing scheduled pursuant to this paragraph. Upon the

request of the authority, any municipality or community board may waive

the fifteen day notice requirement. No premises having been granted a

license pursuant to this section shall be denied a renewal of such

license upon the grounds that such premises are within five hundred feet

of a building or buildings wherein three or more premises are licensed

and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four,

sixty-four-a, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article.

(d) Within the context of this subdivision, a building occupied as a

place of worship does not cease to be "exclusively" occupied as a place

of worship by incidental uses that are not of a nature to detract from

the predominant character of the building as a place of worship, such

uses which include, but which are not limited to: the conduct of legally

authorized games of bingo or other games of chance held as a means of

raising funds for the not-for-profit religious organization which

conducts services at the place of worship or for other not-for-profit

organizations or groups; use of the building for fund-raising

performances by or benefitting the not-for-profit religious organization

which conducts services at the place of worship or other not-for-profit

organizations or groups; the use of the building by other religious

organizations or groups for religious services or other purposes; the

conduct of social activities by or for the benefit of the congregants;

the use of the building for meetings held by organizations or groups

providing bereavement counseling to persons having suffered the loss of

a loved one, or providing advice or support for conditions or diseases

including, but not limited to, alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer,

cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's disease; the use of

the building for blood drives, health screenings, health information

meetings, yoga classes, exercise classes or other activities intended to

promote the health of the congregants or other persons; and use of the

building by non-congregant members of the community for private social

functions. The building occupied as a place of worship does not cease to

be "exclusively" occupied as a place of worship where the not-for-profit

religious organization occupying the place of worship accepts the

payment of funds to defray costs related to another party's use of the

building.

6. The liquor authority may make such rules as it deems necessary to

carry out the provisions of this section.

7. This section shall not apply to any non-profit religious,

charitable, or fraternal organization nor to a club as defined in

section three, subdivision nine of this chapter, nor to a duly

recognized political club, except that it shall be unlawful for any of

the above to permit consumption of alcoholic beverages during the hours

prohibited by or pursuant to section one hundred six of the alcoholic

beverage control law.