§ 476 — Definitions

§ 476. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall\nhave the following meanings:\n 1. "Municipality" shall mean any city, town or village within this\nstate.\n 2. "Control commission" or "commission" shall mean the New York state\ngaming commission created pursuant to section one hundred two of the\nracing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law.\n 3. "Bingo" or "game" shall mean and include a specific game of chance,\ncommonly known as bingo or lotto, in which prizes are awarded on the\nbasis of designated numbers or symbols on a card conforming to numbers\nor symbols selected at random.\n 4. "Authorized organization" shall mean and include any bona fide\nreligious or charitable organization or bona fide educational,\nfraternal, civic or service organization or bona fide organization of\nveterans, volunteer firefighters, or volunteer ambulance workers, which\nby its charter, certificate of incorporation, constitution, or act of\nthe legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes one or more of\nthe lawful purposes as defined in this article, provided that each shall\noperate without profit to its members, and provided that each such\norganization has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes\nas defined in this article for a period of one year immediately prior to\napplying for a license under this article.\n 5. "Bingo control law" shall mean article nineteen-B of the executive\nlaw.\n 6. "Lawful purposes" shall mean one or more of the following causes,\ndeeds or activities:\n (a) Those which shall benefit needy or deserving persons indefinite in\nnumber by enhancing their opportunity for religious or educational\nadvancement, by relieving them from disease, suffering or distress, or\nby contributing to their physical well-being, by assisting them in\nestablishing themselves in life as worthy and useful citizens, or by\nincreasing their comprehension of and devotion to the principles upon\nwhich this nation was founded and enhancing their loyalty to their\ngovernments;\n (b) Those which shall initiate, perform or foster worthy public works\nor shall enable or further the erection or maintenance of public\nstructures;\n (c) Those which shall initiate, perform or foster the provisions of\nservices to veterans by encouraging the gathering of such veterans and\nshall enable or further the erection or maintenance of facilities for\nuse by such veterans which shall be used primarily for charitable or\npatriotic purposes, or those purposes which shall be authorized by a\nbona fide organization of veterans, provided however that such proceeds\nare disbursed in accordance with the rules and regulations of the state\ngaming commission.\n (d) Those which shall otherwise lessen the burdens borne by government\nor which are voluntarily undertaken by an authorized organization to\naugment or supplement services which government would normally render to\nthe people.\n 7. "Net proceeds" shall mean (a) in relation to the gross receipts\nfrom one or more occasions of bingo, the amount that shall remain after\ndeducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for\nbingo supplies and equipment, prizes, stated rental if any, bookkeeping\nor accounting services according to a schedule of compensation\nprescribed by the commission, janitorial services and utility supplies\nif any, license fees, and the cost of bus transportation, if authorized\nby the control commission, and (b) in relation to the gross rent\nreceived by an organization licensed to conduct bingo for the use of its\npremises by another licensee, the amount that shall remain after\ndeducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for\njanitorial services and utility supplies directly attributable thereto\nif any.\n 8. "Net lease" shall mean a written agreement between a lessor and\nlessee under the terms of which the lessee is entitled to the\npossession, use or occupancy of the whole or part of any commercial\npremises for which the lessee pays rent to the lessor and likewise\nundertakes to pay substantially all of the regularly recurring expenses\nincident to the operation and maintenance of such leased premises.\n 9. "Authorized commercial lessor" shall mean a person, firm or\ncorporation other than a licensee to conduct bingo under the provisions\nof this article, who or which owns or is a net lessee of premises and\noffer the same for leasing by him, her or it to an authorized\norganization for any consideration whatsoever, direct or indirect, for\nthe purpose of conducting bingo therein, provided that he, she or it, as\nthe case may be, shall not be\n (a) a person convicted of a crime if there is a direct relationship\nbetween one or more of the previous criminal offenses and the integrity\nor safety of bingo, considering the factors set forth in article\ntwenty-three-A of the correction law;\n (b) a person who is or has been a professional gambler or gambling\npromoter or who for other reasons is not of good moral character;\n (c) a public officer who receives any consideration, direct or\nindirect, as owner or lessor of premises offered for the purpose of\nconducting bingo therein;\n (d) a firm or corporation in which a person defined in paragraph (a),\n(b) or (c) of this subdivision or a person married or related in the\nfirst degree to such a person has greater than a ten percent\nproprietary, equitable or credit interest or in which such a person is\nactive or employed.\n Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be construed to bar any\nfirm or corporation that is not organized for pecuniary profit and no\npart of the net earnings of which inure to the benefit of any\nindividual, member, or shareholder, from being an authorized commercial\nlessor solely because a public officer, or a person married or related\nin the first degree to a public officer, is a member of, active in or\nemployed by such firm or corporation.\n 10. "Limited period bingo" shall mean the conduct of bingo by a\nlicensed authorized organization, for a period of not more than seven of\ntwelve consecutive days in any one year, at a festival, bazaar, carnival\nor similar function conducted by such licensed authorized organization.\nNo authorized organization licensed to conduct limited period bingo\nshall be otherwise eligible to conduct bingo pursuant to this article in\nthe same year.\n 11. "Supercard" shall mean a bingo card on which prizes are awarded,\nwhich card is selected by the player, containing five designated\nnumbers, colors or symbols, corresponding to the letters B, I, N, G, O,\ndisplayed on the bingo board of the bingo premises operator, which can\nbe played concurrently with the other bingo cards played during the game\nof bingo.\n 11-a. "Early bird" shall mean a bingo game which is played as a\nspecial game, conducted not more than twice during a bingo occasion, in\nwhich prizes are awarded based upon a percentage not to exceed\nseventy-five percent of the sum of money received from the sale of the\nearly bird cards and which is neither subject to the prize limits\nimposed by subdivisions five and six of section four hundred\nseventy-nine and paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section four\nhundred eighty-one, nor the special game opportunity charge limit\nimposed by section four hundred eighty-nine of this article. The\npercentage shall be specified both in the application for bingo license\nand the license. Not more than one dollar shall be charged per card with\nthe total amount collected from the sale of the early bird cards and the\nprize for each game to be announced before the commencement of each\ngame.\n 11-b. "Bonus ball" shall mean a bingo game that is played in\nconjunction with one or more regular or special bingo games designated\nas bonus ball games by the licensed authorized organization during one\nor more consecutive bingo occasions in which a prize is awarded to the\nplayer obtaining a specified winning bingo pattern when the last number\ncalled by the licensed authorized organization is the designated bonus\nball number. The bonus ball prize shall be based upon a percentage of\nthe sales from opportunities to participate in bonus ball games not to\nexceed seventy-five percent of the sum of money received from the sale\nof bonus ball opportunities or six thousand dollars, whichever shall be\nless, and which is not subject to the prize limits imposed by\nsubdivisions five and six of section four hundred seventy-nine and\nparagraph (a) of subdivision one of section four hundred eighty-one of\nthis article. The percentage shall be specified both in the application\nfor the bingo license and the license. Notwithstanding section four\nhundred eighty-nine of this article, not more than one dollar shall be\ncharged per player for an opportunity to participate in all bonus ball\ngames conducted during a single bingo occasion, and the total amount\ncollected from the sale of bonus ball opportunities and the amount of\nthe prize to be awarded shall be announced prior to the start of each\nbingo occasion.\n 12. "Prize", where supercard is played as set forth in subdivision\neleven of this section, shall mean the sum of money or actual value of\nmerchandise awarded to the winner or winners on a game card during a\ngame of bingo and the sum of money or actual value of merchandise\nawarded to the winner or winners on a supercard in excess of the total\nreceipts derived from the sale of supercards for that specific game.\n 13. "Ancillary non-gaming activity" shall mean any activity not\ndirectly related to the conduct or outcome of any game of bingo, and\nshall include assisting at any food concession, cleaning, maintenance\nand site preparation at the location where games of bingo are conducted.\n