2023 New York Laws › ABC - Alcoholic Beverage Control › Article 5 - Special Provisions Relating to Liquor › 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.