§ 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\nretail licenses to sell at certain sporting events for consumption on\npremises. 1. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the\nperformance of a sporting event during which alcoholic beverages are\nsold or otherwise furnished for consumption on such premises shall\nestablish nonalcoholic seating accommodations, separate from other\nseating accommodations within such premises, wherein the sale,\npossession or consumption of alcoholic beverages shall not be permitted.\n (b) Nonalcoholic seating accommodations shall constitute not less than\nsix percentum of all permanent seating accommodations for a given\nsporting event, unless otherwise provided for by this section, and shall\nat such level be equally distributed among each separately designated\nticket price area.\n 2. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the performance of a\nsporting event during which alcoholic beverages are sold or otherwise\nfurnished for consumption on such premises shall establish nonvending\nseating accommodations, separate from other seating accommodations\nwithin such premises, wherein the sale or other furnishing of alcoholic\nbeverages shall not be permitted, but where the consumption of such\nalcoholic beverages shall not be prohibited.\n (b) Nonvending seating accommodations shall constitute not less than\nfifteen percentum of all permanent seating accommodations, in addition\nto those seating accommodations segregated pursuant to subdivision one\nof this section, and shall be equally distributed among each separately\ndesignated ticket price area.\n 3. (a) Immediately upon the effective date of this section, each\nfacility operator shall designate not less than ten percentum of all\nnon-season ticket seating as either nonalcohol seating accommodations or\nnonvending seating accommodations or both, and that such designations\nshall thereafter remain in effect up to and until the commencement of\ndesignations pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision, or\ndesignations pursuant to subdivision four of this section.\n (b) The establishment of seating accommodations pursuant to\nsubdivisions one and two of this section may be implemented over a\nperiod of three years from the effective date of this section, and in a\ncombination of nonalcoholic seating accommodations and nonvending\nseating accommodations, that is consistent with the provisions of this\nsection, provided that\n (i) designations of not less than one-third of the total seating\naccommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this\nsection are made within one year of the effective date of this section;\nhowever, such designation up to the first one-third of the total\nnonalcohol seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price\narea, and\n (ii) designations of an additional one-third of the total seating\naccommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this\nsection are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one; however,\nsuch designation up to the second one-third of the total nonalcohol\nseating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price area, and\n (iii) designations of a final one-third of the total seating\naccommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this\nsection are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two.\n (c) A facility operator may petition the state liquor authority for an\nexemption from the provisions of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of\nparagraph (b) hereof as they relate to nonalcohol seating if it can be\nshown that the demand for such seating does not exceed the availability\nunder subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) hereof. The state liquor\nauthority, in evaluating such petition, shall consider, among other\nthings, the availability of such seating, the promotion of such seating,\nthe method of merchandising tickets for such seating, and the location\nof such seating sections within the overall seating available in a given\nfacility. In addition, the state liquor authority shall consider any\nvoluntarily instituted alcohol reduction plan which includes, but is not\nnecessarily limited to, the provision of low alcohol beer, the\nlimitation on the number of servings of alcoholic beverages, or\nlimitations on the size of such servings.\n (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting facility\noperators from relocating designated nonvending or nonalcohol seating\naccommodations in each year, provided that each facility maintains the\nlevels of nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations provided for\nin this section.\n 4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a\nfacility operator shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivisions\none, two and three hereof, upon the filing of certification with the\nstate liquor authority that said operator prohibits the vending of\nalcoholic beverages in all seating areas of such facility, and\nfurthermore provides non-alcohol seating accommodations in not less than\ntwo percentum of the total permanent seating accommodations.\n 5. (a) For the purposes of preserving order and preventing offenses\nagainst the laws of the state during the course of a sporting event, and\nwhen otherwise authorized pursuant to the provisions of the criminal\nprocedure law and appropriate local legislation, the trustees or\ndirectors of any corporation acting in the capacity of facility operator\nand licensed to do business in New York, may apply from time to time to\nthe commissioner of police of the municipality within which the facility\nis located for the appointment of special patrolmen, who, when\nappointed, shall be peace officers with the same powers within such\nfacility as are set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure law,\nwhose duty, when appointed, shall be to preserve order within the\nfacility operated by the applicant corporation, to protect the property\nwithin said facility, with the authority to eject or arrest all persons\nwho shall be improperly within the facility or who shall be guilty of\ndisorderly conduct, or who shall neglect or refuse to pay the fees\nprescribed by said corporation; and it shall be the further duty of said\nspecial patrolmen, when appointed, to prevent all violations of law and\narrest any and all persons violating such provisions, and to process\nsuch persons in accordance with the criminal procedure law. The\nappointment of special patrolmen pursuant to this section shall not\nsupersede in any way the authority of peace officers or police officers\nof the jurisdiction within which such facility is located, nor shall any\npatrolmen be deemed by virtue of such employment an employee of said\nmunicipality, or be entitled to any of the benefits arising from such\nemployment, and such special patrolmen may be terminated by the\ncommissioner at any time, without assigning cause therefore.\n (b) The special patrolmen appointed and approved pursuant to the\nprovisions of this subdivision shall be the sole responsibility of the\napplying corporate entity, and such entity shall indemnify and defend\nthe municipality for any and all liability arising from the acts or\nomissions of such officers. In consideration of their appointment,\nspecial patrolmen shall sign an agreement in writing releasing and\nwaiving all claim whatsoever against the police department or the\nmunicipality for pay, salary or compensation for their services, or for\nany other expenses connected thereto.\n 6. Each facility operator shall file with the state liquor authority a\nplan of compliance with the provisions of this section, including but\nnot limited to a facility diagram or such other seating program,\nindicating ticket price areas designated as nonalcoholic and nonvending\nseating accommodations. This plan shall also include a description of\nall policies and procedures instituted by the facility operator in\nrelation to the sale, consumption or limitation of alcoholic beverages.\n 7. (a) For the purposes of this section, "facility for the performance\nof a sporting event" shall include any stadium, arena, ballpark, or\nother indoor or outdoor athletic field complex in use during a\nprofessional sporting event, and located within a standard metropolitan\nstatistical area having a population of one million or more as of the\nmost current decennial census as conducted by the United States\nDepartment of Commerce, but shall not include facilities owned or\noperated by an educational institution.\n (b) For the purposes of this section, "facility operator" shall\ninclude the primary tenant of a facility defined in paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision. In those situations where the entity responsible for\noperation and management of said facility is other than the primary\ntenant, the person or persons so responsible shall constitute the\n"facility operator." If no facility operator pursuant to this section\ncan be ascertained, then the facility owner shall also constitute the\nfacility operator. In any event, the designation of such facility\noperator shall be included in all plans of compliance filed pursuant to\nsubdivision six of this section.\n 8. The state liquor authority shall promulgate rules and regulations\nno later than January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, that provide\nfor notification of facility operators of such facilities and sellers of\nalcoholic beverages at such facilities of the provisions of this section\nand that provide for the conspicuous posting at such facilities notices\ninforming the public of the provisions of this section, indicating the\nnonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations designated pursuant to\nthis section, and the penalty for violating this section, and shall\npromulgate such other rules and regulations in furtherance of the\nprovisions of this section.\n 9. The state liquor authority shall report to the governor and\nlegislature no later than February first, nineteen hundred ninety-three\non the compliance with the provisions of this section, any and all\nadministrative or enforcement actions taken under the authority vested\nin it by the provisions of this section and the effectiveness of the\nprovisions of this section in reducing the occurrence of alcohol-related\nincidents.\n 10. (a) Violation by a facility operator of the provisions of this\nsection or of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this\nsection is a misdemeanor.\n (b) Violation of any stadium plan enacted pursuant to this section or\nthe rules and regulations promulgated hereunder is a violation.\n 11. Severability. If any provision of this section shall be held void\nor unconstitutional, all other provisions and all other sanctions not\nexpressly held to be void or unconstitutional shall continue in full\nforce and effect.\n 12. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,\na facility operator may reduce the total number of seats segregated as\nnon-alcohol seating as necessary to assure local television broadcast of\na particular sporting event when ninety-nine percent of all other\nseating is unavailable, so long as the facility operator, prior to the\ncommencement of the sporting season, files with the state liquor\nauthority for a plan of reduction in the consumption of alcoholic\nbeverages that includes:\n (i) restrictions in those areas that were to be segregated as\nnon-alcohol seating that exceed the limitations on non-vending, but\nwhich do not prohibit the consumption of alcohol in toto;\n (ii) the development of additional security personnel in those areas\nthat were to be segregated as non-alcohol seating, or such other areas\nin which persons requesting non-alcohol seating are located; and\n (iii) a plan of marketing, promotion, method of merchandising and\nlocation of non-alcoholic seating, and a description of the seats to be\ndeclassified as non-alcohol seats.\n (b) The provisions of this subdivision shall apply only in those\ninstances where a facility is operated with two percent of its seating\nsegregated as non-alcohol seating in accordance with the provisions of\nthis section.\n (c) In the event that a facility operator invokes the provisions of\nthis subdivision for its intended purposes, the facility operator shall\nnotify the state liquor authority at least three days before the\nparticular sporting event of the utilization of this subdivision, the\ntime period in which the provisions of this subdivision shall be in\neffect, and certify that such utilization is based on the unavailability\nof seating in all remaining sections of the facility.\n * NB Expired Effective July 1, 1993\n