Authorizes private membership establishments to have certain licenses for sale of alcohol for consumption on premises; establishes a private membership establishment must include one hundred or more members.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6420
SPONSOR: Stirpe TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to
authorizing private membership establishments to have certain licenses
for sale of alcohol
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow for the issuance of liquor licenses to certain private member-
ship establishments
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 3 of alcohol beverage control law by adding a
new subdivision 39 to define a "private membership establishment."
Section 2 amends Section 64 of the alcohol beverage control law so that
the new licensees abide by the rules of other on-premises establish-
ments.
Section 3 amends Section 106 of the alcohol beverage control law to
allow the entities to sell beverages "only to its members and to their
guests."
Section 4 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation would create a new 'private membership establishment'
license within the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. This change will
create a new category for those interested in opening a club in New York
and will allow entities that have been authorized under the current club
license as not-for-profits the option to modify their licenses. This new
category would be subject to the same fee structure as other for-profit
entities under Section 64 or 64-a of the ABC Law.
This legislation would support the nightlife and hospitality industry,
which is an important economic driver for the state.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A.10381/S.9464: Referred to Economic Development / PASSED
SENATE
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6420
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STIRPE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Economic Development
AN ACT to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in relation to
authorizing private membership establishments to have certain licenses
for sale of alcohol
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3 of the alcoholic beverage control law is amended
2 by adding a new subdivision 39 to read as follows:
3 39. "Private membership establishment" shall mean an association oper-
4 ated by an individual, corporation, partnership, company, or any other
5 for-profit entity which is the owner, lessee, or occupant of a premises
6 used exclusively for such association's purposes, and which is operated
7 solely for a recreational, social, communal workspace or athletic
8 purposes. A "member" of a private membership establishment shall mean a
9 person who, whether a charter member or admitted in agreement with the
10 by-laws of such private membership establishment, has become a bona fide
11 member thereof, who maintains the private membership by the payment of
12 their annual dues in a bona fide manner in accordance with the by-laws
13 and whose name and address is entered on such private membership estab-
14 lishment's list of members. A private membership establishment must have
15 one hundred or more members and shall be subject to the provisions of
16 section one hundred ten of this chapter. Private membership establish-
17 ments may have ticketed events for their members or members' guests, but
18 a business or facility that sells tickets to the general public shall
19 not be considered a private membership establishment.
20 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 64 of the alcoholic beverage control
21 law, as amended by chapter 258 of the laws of 1976, is amended to read
22 as follows:
23 5. No retail license under this section shall be granted except for
24 such premises as are being conducted as a bona fide hotel provided that
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00724-01-5
A. 6420 2
1 a restaurant is operated in such premises, restaurant, catering estab-
2 lishment, club, private membership establishment, railroad car, vessel
3 or aircraft being operated on regularly scheduled flights by a United
4 States certificated airline.
5 § 3. Subdivision 8 of section 106 of the alcoholic beverage control
6 law is amended to read as follows:
7 8. A private membership establishment, club or a luncheon club
8 licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption shall
9 be permitted to sell such beverages only to its members and to their
10 guests accompanying them.
11 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
