Gov. Kathy Hochul OKs more exemptions to 19th century law banning bars near churches, schools

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday signed more exemptions to an 1892 law created to tame lawless saloons that still prohibits sale of liquor within 200 feet of houses of worship and schools.

The 200-foot provision of state Alcoholic Beverage Control Law applies to liquor licenses for bars, restaurants, private clubs and retail liquor stores. The bills passed by the State Legislature and sent to Hochul this month follow an effort in Albany during and since the pandemic to expand alcohol sales and sites where alcohol can be sold as an economic development tool to help the economy rebound.

Hochul signed the separate bills into law to allow liquor sales at an American Legion post near a school in Rosedale, Queens; at a performing arts center and wedding venue in Saratoga Springs near a church; at a new restaurant in Manhattan in a neighborhood where a church recently moved in; at a bar in Hudson Falls across the street from a church; and at an existing soul food and craft cocktail bar in Ithaca, where owners were recently told the tavern was located too close to a church.

Another bill will expand liquor sales at the One Wall Street condominium in Manhattan located across from the historic Trinity Church. The art deco landmark received an exemption last year to serve liquor at One Wall Street, which is within 200 feet of the historic church and churchyard where founding father Alexander Hamilton is buried. The bill will expand that license to allow sales "off premises," including to the condominium's residences.

Over the years, the legislature has approved at least 36 exemptions that have been signed into law for liquor sales at sites from Buffalo to Malverne to Northport, often for more than one business in the city or town. The 200-foot rule doesn’t apply to beer and wine licenses, usually issued to restaurants.

The 1892 law was created during an era of raucous, unregulated saloons in New York State, particularly in New York City. Today it remains a concern for many who believe it is outdated and restrains economic growth while favoring business operators with the political acumen and clout to land an exemption, according to authorities in and outside government.

Yet there has been no serious effort in the legislature to abolish the 200-foot rule, which provides local governments and religious leaders a powerful voice in blocking liquor sales in a neighborhood.

There have been recommendations to do so. In 2022, the Commission to Study Reform of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law voted 15-1 to abolish the "200-foot law." "Outdated" and "a relic of the past" are how commissioners described the law in the group's final report. One member, Manhattan attorney Kevin Danow, called the provision a "holdover from the days alcohol was thought of as a ‘demon rum.’ ”

Revising the 200-foot provision also was recommended in 2009 by a state Law Revision Commission and in 2016 by a "working group" on alcohol laws created by then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. But a 2016 State Senate bill mirroring that recommendation never left committee and never received an Assembly sponsor, state records show.

"There are too many legislators who see this law as a way to manage the number of nightlife establishments in their community and to preserve the quality of life," said Scott Wexler, executive director of the Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association, a powerful lobby in Albany.

Wexler called for revising, not scrapping, the 200-foot law to empower the state Liquor Authority to grant the exemptions if the local municipality doesn’t object.

The law was born from "the heyday of the old-time saloon."

"The saloons of that time, especially in New York City, were virtually unregulated and often were dens of iniquity, purveyors of not just alcohol, but also gambling, prostitution, and other vice," said Ranjit Dighe, a professor at the State University of New York at Oswego who has researched the economics and politics of alcohol sales in America.

But after the 18th Amendment outlawed the sale of alcohol nationwide from 1920 until Prohibition’s repeal in 1933, "old-time saloons gave way to mostly respectable, and highly regulated, bars," Dighe told Newsday.

"And in the 1980s, state drinking ages went up to 21, well beyond the age of high school seniors," Dighe said. "But laws have a way of staying on the books much longer than they need to."

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.