Eliminates the two year restriction on temporary retail permits for applications subject to the 500 foot law; provides that a temporary retail permit may not be issued in a city with a population of one million or more people if a retail license at the location was canceled, suspended or revoked by the authority for two consecutive licensees at such location.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8427A
SPONSOR: Epstein
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to
expanding the availability of temporary retail permits by eliminating
the two year restriction on temporary retail permits for applications
subject to the 500 foot law
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of section 97-a of the alcoholic beverage
control law by modifying the conditions under which temporary retail
permits can be granted in New York City, allowing them so long as no
former licensees at the location sought by a prospective licensee had
their licenses canceled, suspended, or revoked consecutively. However,
if there was an intervening licensed establishment with an active retail
license that was no canceled, suspended, or revoked, the restriction
above does not apply.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Existing law restricts the Liquor Authority's ability to issue temporary
retail permits to New York City applicants whose applications are
subject to the 500 Foot Law in several important ways: (1) the permit
may only be issued if the premises has been licensed in the past two
years and the prior license was not suspended, cancelled or revoked; (2)
nor may it be issued if an administrative law judge has made a recommen-
dation that issuance of the license to the applicant would be in the
public interest; and (3) if the permit is issued, the applicant's method
of operation under the permit includes statutory limits on closing hours
and the type of music that may be played. The two-year restriction was
devised in late 2021, with the goal of making temporary retail permits
only available to those bar and restaurant premises that were shuttered
due to the pandemic, which at that point was two years old. It uniquely
prejudices new construction, by making new buildings per se ineligible
for temporary retail permits. It also prejudices those premises that
now, four years after the pandemic began, remain vacant. The experiment
of expanding availability of temporary retail permits within New York
City has been a success, and given the curren t backlogs at the Liquor
Authority, it is time to expand this successful program by making tempo-
rary retail permits available without regard to when a premises was last
licensed, if ever. This bill does not eliminate any of the other
restrictions on the Liquor Authority's ability to issue temporary retail
permits to New York City applicants whose applications are subject to
the 500 Foot Law. This bill also amends the prohibition on the Liquor
Authority's ability to issue temporary retail permits for locations in
New York City where a prior license was canceled, suspended or revoked
by extending the lookback period from two to five years, provided that
this prohibition will not apply if a subsequent license was issued at
the location and such subsequent license was not .canceled, suspended or
revoked.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8427--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
December 29, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Economic Development -- recommitted to the Committee on Econom-
ic Development in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to
expanding the availability of temporary retail permits by eliminating
the two year restriction on temporary retail permits for applications
subject to the 500 foot law
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 97-a of the alcoholic beverage
2 control law, as amended by chapter 106 of the laws of 2022, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 3. A temporary retail permit under paragraph (b) of subdivision one of
5 this section may not be issued for any premises that is subject to the
6 provisions of section sixty-three or seventy-nine of this chapter; a
7 temporary retail permit under paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this
8 section shall not be issued for a premises subject to the provisions of
9 paragraph (b) of subdivision seven of section sixty-four, subparagraph
10 (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision seven of section sixty-four-a,
11 subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision eleven of section
12 sixty-four-c, or paragraph (b) of subdivision eight of section sixty-
13 four-d, unless and until a recommendation that there be a finding of
14 public interest has been made by an administrative law judge pursuant to
15 paragraph (f) of subdivision seven of section sixty-four, paragraph (d)
16 of subdivision seven of section sixty-four-a, paragraph (c) of subdivi-
17 sion five of section sixty-four-b, paragraph (c) of subdivision eleven
18 of section sixty-four-c, or paragraph (e) of subdivision eight of
19 section sixty-four-d of this chapter. Provided however, any premises
20 granted a temporary retail permit pursuant to this subdivision in a city
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13702-02-4
A. 8427--A 2
1 with a population of one million or more people shall only be allowed to
2 operate on the premises under the following conditions: [an active
3 retail license shall have existed at the location within the past two
4 years, and such license shall not have been canceled, suspended, or
5 revoked by the authority within the past two years;] the closing time
6 any day of the week shall be no later than midnight; provided however
7 that the closing time of any outdoor space shall be no later than ten
8 o'clock post-meridian Sunday through Thursday and eleven o'clock post-
9 meridian Friday and Saturday; no outdoor music; indoors shall have
10 recorded background music only, with no live music, DJ's, karaoke, or
11 similar forms of music; and no dancing. The authority shall automat-
12 ically lift such restrictions if the authority issues a retail license
13 for the premises, and replace such restrictions with other restrictions,
14 if any, imposed by the authority in accordance with the public interest
15 standard. Further provided however, a temporary retail permit may not
16 be issued pursuant to this subdivision in a city with a population of
17 one million or more people if a retail license at the location was
18 canceled, suspended or revoked by the authority for two consecutive
19 licensees at such location. The foregoing restriction on the issuance of
20 a temporary retail permit pursuant to this subdivision in a city with a
21 population of one million or more people if a retail license at the
22 location was canceled, suspended or revoked by the authority for two
23 consecutive licensees at such location shall not apply to any location
24 at which an active retail license shall have existed subsequent to a
25 prior retail license being canceled, suspended or revoked by the author-
26 ity for two consecutive licensees at such location, so long as such
27 subsequent retail license was not canceled, suspended or revoked in the
28 past five years.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.