NEW YORK In the city that never sleeps, restaurant, bar and nightclub operators stand to lose millions of dollars in New Year’s Eve revenue if New York’s State Liquor Authority denies them an all-night operating permit if they miss a new Nov. 17 deadline for applying, said an attorney for the New York State Restaurant Association.
Only 16 operators have requested a permit to date, compared with the 600 who applied last year, said Bill Crowley, a spokesman for the SLA. The permit, which costs $36, allows an establishment to stay open until 8 a.m. on Jan. 1. Otherwise, closing time is 4 a.m.
Earlier this year, the SLA set a deadline of Nov. 17 for filing a permit request. Previously, operators could apply into December. The deadline was enacted to give the agency “time to process the applications,” Crowley said.
But Rob Bookman, legal counsel to the NYSRA’s Nightlife Chapter, said the SLA has been trying since 2006 to make it more difficult for operators to obtain all-night permits.
“Basically, they’ve exacerbated a dubious legal standard by creating this early application status,” he said. “Now all of the dozens and dozens of people who would get approved won’t because they won’t meet the deadline. If they don’t back off on this, there’s going to be a whole bunch of people going to court to fight this thing. This is going to be a serious problem.”
Bookman added that the restaurant association “tried to get the word out, but people are used to applying for this permit in December, not November.”
“New Year’s Eve is the single biggest night of the year in this industry,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars lost and now is not the time — especially in a down economy — to say, ‘Happy New Year, OK, now you can go home early.’”
Crowley said the deadline was part of a mandate implemented July 9. He noted that an announcement had been posted on the department’s website, www.abc.state.ny.us and that a 45-day period for public comment was provided before enactment.
He said the department is “doing everything we can to let [operators] know they have to get [the applications] in. We’re hoping we’ll have a lot more [this] week. They’re pretty easy and fast to process.”
Bookman said, “Either they’ll come to the conclusion on their own that they have to back off on this or someone will take them to court.”
Crowley said he doesn’t expect any lawsuits because “the agency went through the normal regulatory process the way we were supposed to.”