The Licensing Board has clarified its position on all night permits for New Year’s Eve.  If the municipality or community board has restricted hour conditions on licensed premises, the retail licensee must obtain written consent from the municipality or community board and submit it with the all night permit application.  Failure to do so will result in automatic denial of the application.  The Commissioner explained that the Liquor Authority considers license conditions as a binding contract between the SLA, the licensee and the municipality/community board.  In order to waive those conditions, even for one occasion, consent of all parties is required.

One attorney at the New York City meeting suggested this was overly burdensome and not at all what licensees had in mind when they agreed to the proposed conditions.  His remedy?  Include language “except on New Year’s Eve” for all of his client’s licenses.  I like that idea and will request inclusion of similar language for my own clients.