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New York Alcoholic Beverage Control - Article 5 - § 64-B License to Sell Liquor on Premises Commonly Known as a Bottle Club

Legal Research Home > New York Laws > New York Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) > New York Alcoholic Beverage Control - Article 5 - § 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. 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.

Last modified: February 14, 2012