Relates to the issuance of a temporary carnival permit; repealer

Summary of specific provisions

This bill amends the alcoholic beverage control law by adding a new section 97-b.

Subdivision 1. will authorize the liquor authority to issue temporary permits for a period not to exceed eighteen days for six consecutive weeks, valid only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to authorize the sale of beer and wine associated events leading up to carnivals, festivals and parades, within the hours fixed by or pursuant to subdivision five of section one hundred six of this chapter. The fee for such permit shall be one hundred dollars. Such permit and the exercise of the privilege granted thereby shall be subject to the rules of the liquor authority as developed in consultation with local communities and carnival associations.

Subdivision 2. mandates procedures for revocation of such permit upon complaints from a governmental agency, local police, or civic association which shall be developed in consultation with local bodies and may include conditions specific to such locality.

Subdivision 3. authorizes the liquor authority to issue such temporary permits to groups, organizations, or vendors designated as carnival participants by the carnival's prime sponsor. The prime sponsor shall be the organization holding the permit or official documentation authorizing the event.

Effective date is forty-five days after it shall have become law and shall be repealed 5 years thereafter.

Justification

New York is a Mecca for new immigrants and recent census data revealed that immigrants and first generation children of immigrants make up at least a third of New York's population. For many of New York's hundreds of ethnic groups, festivals and carnivals are held in celebration of certain beliefs, and provide opportunities and forums for cultural expression. These varieties of carnivals and festivals,

celebrate many religious rights and historical events and also ancestral practices of significance to the perpetuation of the culture.

Because such celebrations are most often open events, which involve much interaction and socialization among groups and individuals, these events may include the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages such as wines, beers, etc.

The West Indian-American Day Carnival, known also as the Labor Day Carnival, is held in Brooklyn, N.Y. each Labor Day, and is one such festival. The festival, which includes a huge parade down Eastern Parkway, is actually an event which is in the making for at least a 45 to 60 day period. The San Gerino Festival in Manhattan is also one such festival, which actually goes on for more than one day.

Many groups and organizations which participate in festivals and carnivals must raise funds to finance their participation and hold fundraising events during the periods leading up to the day of final celebration. Current law, requires that a temporary liquor license be obtained by any group that will sell wine or beer at fundraising events.

Previously, State Liquor License Authority regulations allowed for granting a license for each event. However, new rules have placed a limit on the number of temporary licenses that may be granted to a single group/organizations, during a specific period. This bill would create the new temporary Carnival License that could be issued for a period of up to forty-five days under regulations set up by the SLA.

This bill would remove the need for repeated applications, while also solving the problem created by the new regulations that could prevent a group or organization from obtaining a permit.

Prior legislative history

2007-08: A.3975 2006-07: A.3806 2005-06: A.3806 2003-04: A.5133C 2001-02: A.8908

Fiscal implications

Fees paid for permit shall increase revenue to the state

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the forty-fifth day after it shall have become a law and shall expire five years after such effective date when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed; provided, however, that effective immediately the liquor authority is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations for the purpose

of implementing the provisions of this act on or before such effective date.