§ 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.