2023 New York Laws › ABC - Alcoholic Beverage Control › Article 8 - General Provisions › 106-B - Provisions for Governing Sports Facilities Operators and Retail Licenses to Sell at Certain Sporting Events for Consumption on Premises.

* § 106-b. Provisions  for  governing  sports facilities operators and
retail licenses to sell at certain sporting events  for  consumption  on
premises.   1.  (a)  Every  person  who  operates  a  facility  for  the
performance of a sporting event during  which  alcoholic  beverages  are
sold  or  otherwise  furnished  for  consumption  on such premises shall
establish  nonalcoholic  seating  accommodations,  separate  from  other
seating   accommodations   within   such  premises,  wherein  the  sale,
possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages shall not be permitted.
(b) Nonalcoholic seating accommodations shall constitute not less than
six percentum of  all  permanent  seating  accommodations  for  a  given
sporting event, unless otherwise provided for by this section, and shall
at  such  level  be equally distributed among each separately designated
ticket price area.
2. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the performance  of  a
sporting  event  during  which alcoholic beverages are sold or otherwise
furnished for consumption on such premises  shall  establish  nonvending
seating  accommodations,  separate  from  other  seating  accommodations
within such premises, wherein the sale or other furnishing of  alcoholic
beverages  shall  not  be  permitted,  but where the consumption of such
alcoholic beverages shall not be prohibited.
(b) Nonvending seating accommodations shall constitute not  less  than
fifteen  percentum  of all permanent seating accommodations, in addition
to those seating accommodations segregated pursuant to  subdivision  one
of  this section, and shall be equally distributed among each separately
designated ticket price area.
3. (a) Immediately upon the  effective  date  of  this  section,  each
facility  operator  shall  designate  not less than ten percentum of all
non-season ticket seating as either nonalcohol seating accommodations or
nonvending seating accommodations or both, and  that  such  designations
shall  thereafter  remain  in effect up to and until the commencement of
designations  pursuant  to  paragraph  (b)  of  this   subdivision,   or
designations pursuant to subdivision four of this section.
(b)   The   establishment   of   seating  accommodations  pursuant  to
subdivisions one and two of this  section  may  be  implemented  over  a
period  of three years from the effective date of this section, and in a
combination  of  nonalcoholic  seating  accommodations  and   nonvending
seating  accommodations,  that is consistent with the provisions of this
section, provided that
(i) designations of not less  than  one-third  of  the  total  seating
accommodations  required  pursuant  to  subdivisions one and two of this
section are made within one year of the effective date of this  section;
however,  such  designation  up  to  the  first  one-third  of the total
nonalcohol seating accommodation may be designated in any  ticket  price
area, and
(ii)  designations  of  an  additional  one-third of the total seating
accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one  and  two  of  this
section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one; however,
such  designation  up  to  the  second one-third of the total nonalcohol
seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price area, and
(iii)  designations  of  a  final  one-third  of  the  total   seating
accommodations  required  pursuant  to  subdivisions one and two of this
section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two.
(c) A facility operator may petition the state liquor authority for an
exemption from  the  provisions  of  subparagraphs  (ii)  and  (iii)  of
paragraph  (b)  hereof as they relate to nonalcohol seating if it can be
shown that the demand for such seating does not exceed the  availability
under  subparagraph  (i)  of  paragraph  (b)  hereof.  The  state liquor
authority, in evaluating such  petition,  shall  consider,  among  other

things, the availability of such seating, the promotion of such seating,
the  method  of merchandising tickets for such seating, and the location
of such seating sections within the overall seating available in a given
facility.  In  addition,  the  state liquor authority shall consider any
voluntarily instituted alcohol reduction plan which includes, but is not
necessarily  limited  to,  the  provision  of  low  alcohol  beer,   the
limitation  on  the  number  of  servings  of  alcoholic  beverages,  or
limitations on the size of such servings.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting facility
operators from relocating designated nonvending  or  nonalcohol  seating
accommodations  in  each year, provided that each facility maintains the
levels of nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations provided  for
in this section.
4.  Notwithstanding  any  provision of this section to the contrary, a
facility operator shall be exempt from the  provisions  of  subdivisions
one,  two  and  three  hereof, upon the filing of certification with the
state liquor authority that  said  operator  prohibits  the  vending  of
alcoholic   beverages  in  all  seating  areas  of  such  facility,  and
furthermore provides non-alcohol seating accommodations in not less than
two percentum of the total permanent seating accommodations.
5. (a) For the purposes of preserving order  and  preventing  offenses
against the laws of the state during the course of a sporting event, and
when  otherwise  authorized  pursuant  to the provisions of the criminal
procedure  law  and  appropriate  local  legislation,  the  trustees  or
directors of any corporation acting in the capacity of facility operator
and  licensed to do business in New York, may apply from time to time to
the commissioner of police of the municipality within which the facility
is  located  for  the  appointment  of  special  patrolmen,  who,   when
appointed,  shall  be  peace  officers  with the same powers within such
facility as are set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure law,
whose duty, when appointed,  shall  be  to  preserve  order  within  the
facility  operated by the applicant corporation, to protect the property
within said facility, with the authority to eject or arrest all  persons
who  shall  be  improperly within the facility or who shall be guilty of
disorderly conduct, or who shall neglect  or  refuse  to  pay  the  fees
prescribed by said corporation; and it shall be the further duty of said
special  patrolmen, when appointed, to prevent all violations of law and
arrest any and all persons violating such  provisions,  and  to  process
such  persons  in  accordance  with  the  criminal  procedure law.   The
appointment of special patrolmen pursuant  to  this  section  shall  not
supersede  in any way the authority of peace officers or police officers
of the jurisdiction within which such facility is located, nor shall any
patrolmen be deemed by virtue of such employment  an  employee  of  said
municipality,  or  be  entitled to any of the benefits arising from such
employment,  and  such  special  patrolmen  may  be  terminated  by  the
commissioner at any time, without assigning cause therefore.
(b)  The  special  patrolmen  appointed  and  approved pursuant to the
provisions of this subdivision shall be the sole responsibility  of  the
applying  corporate  entity,  and such entity shall indemnify and defend
the municipality for any and all liability  arising  from  the  acts  or
omissions  of  such  officers.    In consideration of their appointment,
special patrolmen shall sign  an  agreement  in  writing  releasing  and
waiving  all  claim  whatsoever  against  the  police  department or the
municipality for pay, salary or compensation for their services, or  for
any other expenses connected thereto.
6. Each facility operator shall file with the state liquor authority a
plan  of  compliance  with the provisions of this section, including but
not limited to  a  facility  diagram  or  such  other  seating  program,

indicating  ticket price areas designated as nonalcoholic and nonvending
seating accommodations. This plan shall also include  a  description  of
all  policies  and  procedures  instituted  by  the facility operator in
relation to the sale, consumption or limitation of alcoholic beverages.
7. (a) For the purposes of this section, "facility for the performance
of  a  sporting  event"  shall  include any stadium, arena, ballpark, or
other  indoor  or  outdoor  athletic  field  complex  in  use  during  a
professional  sporting event, and located within a standard metropolitan
statistical area having a population of one million or more  as  of  the
most  current  decennial  census  as  conducted  by  the  United  States
Department of Commerce,  but  shall  not  include  facilities  owned  or
operated by an educational institution.
(b)  For  the  purposes  of  this  section,  "facility operator" shall
include the primary tenant of a facility defined  in  paragraph  (a)  of
this  subdivision.  In those situations where the entity responsible for
operation and management of said facility  is  other  than  the  primary
tenant,  the  person  or  persons  so  responsible  shall constitute the
"facility operator." If no facility operator pursuant  to  this  section
can  be  ascertained,  then the facility owner shall also constitute the
facility operator. In  any  event,  the  designation  of  such  facility
operator  shall be included in all plans of compliance filed pursuant to
subdivision six of this section.
8. The state liquor authority shall promulgate rules  and  regulations
no  later than January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, that provide
for notification of facility operators of such facilities and sellers of
alcoholic beverages at such facilities of the provisions of this section
and that provide for the conspicuous posting at such facilities  notices
informing  the  public of the provisions of this section, indicating the
nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations designated pursuant  to
this  section,  and  the  penalty  for violating this section, and shall
promulgate such other  rules  and  regulations  in  furtherance  of  the
provisions of this section.
9.  The  state  liquor  authority  shall  report  to  the governor and
legislature no later than February first, nineteen hundred  ninety-three
on  the  compliance  with  the  provisions  of this section, any and all
administrative or enforcement actions taken under the  authority  vested
in  it  by  the  provisions of this section and the effectiveness of the
provisions of this section in reducing the occurrence of alcohol-related
incidents.
10. (a) Violation by a facility operator of  the  provisions  of  this
section  or  of  the  rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this
section is a misdemeanor.
(b) Violation of any stadium plan enacted pursuant to this section  or
the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder is a violation.
11.  Severability. If any provision of this section shall be held void
or unconstitutional, all other provisions and all  other  sanctions  not
expressly  held  to  be  void or unconstitutional shall continue in full
force and effect.
12. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,
a facility operator may reduce the total number of seats  segregated  as
non-alcohol seating as necessary to assure local television broadcast of
a  particular  sporting  event  when  ninety-nine  percent  of all other
seating is unavailable, so long as the facility operator, prior  to  the
commencement  of  the  sporting  season,  files  with  the  state liquor
authority for a plan  of  reduction  in  the  consumption  of  alcoholic
beverages that includes:
(i)  restrictions  in  those  areas  that  were  to  be  segregated as
non-alcohol seating that exceed  the  limitations  on  non-vending,  but
which do not prohibit the consumption of alcohol in toto;
(ii)  the  development of additional security personnel in those areas
that were to be segregated as non-alcohol seating, or such  other  areas
in which persons requesting non-alcohol seating are located; and
(iii)  a  plan  of  marketing,  promotion, method of merchandising and
location of non-alcoholic seating, and a description of the seats to  be
declassified as non-alcohol seats.
(b)  The  provisions  of  this  subdivision  shall apply only in those
instances where a facility is operated with two percent of  its  seating
segregated  as  non-alcohol seating in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(c) In the event that a facility operator invokes  the  provisions  of
this  subdivision for its intended purposes, the facility operator shall
notify the state  liquor  authority  at  least  three  days  before  the
particular  sporting  event  of the utilization of this subdivision, the
time period in which the provisions of  this  subdivision  shall  be  in
effect, and certify that such utilization is based on the unavailability
of seating in all remaining sections of the facility.
* NB Expired Effective July 1, 1993