* § 106-b. Provisions for governing sports facilities operators and retail licenses to sell at certain sporting events for consumption on premises. 1. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the performance of a sporting event during which alcoholic beverages are sold or otherwise furnished for consumption on such premises shall establish nonalcoholic seating accommodations, separate from other seating accommodations within such premises, wherein the sale, possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages shall not be permitted.

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(b) Nonalcoholic seating accommodations shall constitute not less than six percentum of all permanent seating accommodations for a given sporting event, unless otherwise provided for by this section, and shall at such level be equally distributed among each separately designated ticket price area.

2. (a) Every person who operates a facility for the performance of a sporting event during which alcoholic beverages are sold or otherwise furnished for consumption on such premises shall establish nonvending seating accommodations, separate from other seating accommodations within such premises, wherein the sale or other furnishing of alcoholic beverages shall not be permitted, but where the consumption of such alcoholic beverages shall not be prohibited.

(b) Nonvending seating accommodations shall constitute not less than fifteen percentum of all permanent seating accommodations, in addition to those seating accommodations segregated pursuant to subdivision one of this section, and shall be equally distributed among each separately designated ticket price area.

3. (a) Immediately upon the effective date of this section, each facility operator shall designate not less than ten percentum of all non-season ticket seating as either nonalcohol seating accommodations or nonvending seating accommodations or both, and that such designations shall thereafter remain in effect up to and until the commencement of designations pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision, or designations pursuant to subdivision four of this section.

(b) The establishment of seating accommodations pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section may be implemented over a period of three years from the effective date of this section, and in a combination of nonalcoholic seating accommodations and nonvending seating accommodations, that is consistent with the provisions of this section, provided that

(i) designations of not less than one-third of the total seating accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section are made within one year of the effective date of this section; however, such designation up to the first one-third of the total nonalcohol seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price area, and

(ii) designations of an additional one-third of the total seating accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-one; however, such designation up to the second one-third of the total nonalcohol seating accommodation may be designated in any ticket price area, and

(iii) designations of a final one-third of the total seating accommodations required pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section are made by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-two.

(c) A facility operator may petition the state liquor authority for an exemption from the provisions of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (b) hereof as they relate to nonalcohol seating if it can be shown that the demand for such seating does not exceed the availability under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) hereof. The state liquor authority, in evaluating such petition, shall consider, among other things, the availability of such seating, the promotion of such seating, the method of merchandising tickets for such seating, and the location of such seating sections within the overall seating available in a given facility. In addition, the state liquor authority shall consider any voluntarily instituted alcohol reduction plan which includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the provision of low alcohol beer, the limitation on the number of servings of alcoholic beverages, or limitations on the size of such servings.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting facility operators from relocating designated nonvending or nonalcohol seating accommodations in each year, provided that each facility maintains the levels of nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations provided for in this section.

4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a facility operator shall be exempt from the provisions of subdivisions one, two and three hereof, upon the filing of certification with the state liquor authority that said operator prohibits the vending of alcoholic beverages in all seating areas of such facility, and furthermore provides non-alcohol seating accommodations in not less than two percentum of the total permanent seating accommodations.

5. (a) For the purposes of preserving order and preventing offenses against the laws of the state during the course of a sporting event, and when otherwise authorized pursuant to the provisions of the criminal procedure law and appropriate local legislation, the trustees or directors of any corporation acting in the capacity of facility operator and licensed to do business in New York, may apply from time to time to the commissioner of police of the municipality within which the facility is located for the appointment of special patrolmen, who, when appointed, shall be peace officers with the same powers within such facility as are set forth in § 2.20 of the criminal procedure law, whose duty, when appointed, shall be to preserve order within the facility operated by the applicant corporation, to protect the property within said facility, with the authority to eject or arrest all persons who shall be improperly within the facility or who shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, or who shall neglect or refuse to pay the fees prescribed by said corporation; and it shall be the further duty of said special patrolmen, when appointed, to prevent all violations of law and arrest any and all persons violating such provisions, and to process such persons in accordance with the criminal procedure law. The appointment of special patrolmen pursuant to this section shall not supersede in any way the authority of peace officers or police officers of the jurisdiction within which such facility is located, nor shall any patrolmen be deemed by virtue of such employment an employee of said municipality, or be entitled to any of the benefits arising from such employment, and such special patrolmen may be terminated by the commissioner at any time, without assigning cause therefore.

(b) The special patrolmen appointed and approved pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall be the sole responsibility of the applying corporate entity, and such entity shall indemnify and defend the municipality for any and all liability arising from the acts or omissions of such officers. In consideration of their appointment, special patrolmen shall sign an agreement in writing releasing and waiving all claim whatsoever against the police department or the municipality for pay, salary or compensation for their services, or for any other expenses connected thereto.

6. Each facility operator shall file with the state liquor authority a plan of compliance with the provisions of this section, including but not limited to a facility diagram or such other seating program, indicating ticket price areas designated as nonalcoholic and nonvending seating accommodations. This plan shall also include a description of all policies and procedures instituted by the facility operator in relation to the sale, consumption or limitation of alcoholic beverages.

7. (a) For the purposes of this section, "facility for the performance of a sporting event" shall include any stadium, arena, ballpark, or other indoor or outdoor athletic field complex in use during a professional sporting event, and located within a standard metropolitan statistical area having a population of one million or more as of the most current decennial census as conducted by the United States Department of Commerce, but shall not include facilities owned or operated by an educational institution.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "facility operator" shall include the primary tenant of a facility defined in paragraph (a) of this subdivision. In those situations where the entity responsible for operation and management of said facility is other than the primary tenant, the person or persons so responsible shall constitute the "facility operator." If no facility operator pursuant to this section can be ascertained, then the facility owner shall also constitute the facility operator. In any event, the designation of such facility operator shall be included in all plans of compliance filed pursuant to subdivision six of this section.

8. The state liquor authority shall promulgate rules and regulations no later than January first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine, that provide for notification of facility operators of such facilities and sellers of alcoholic beverages at such facilities of the provisions of this section and that provide for the conspicuous posting at such facilities notices informing the public of the provisions of this section, indicating the nonalcohol and nonvending seating accommodations designated pursuant to this section, and the penalty for violating this section, and shall promulgate such other rules and regulations in furtherance of the provisions of this section.

9. The state liquor authority shall report to the governor and legislature no later than February first, nineteen hundred ninety-three on the compliance with the provisions of this section, any and all administrative or enforcement actions taken under the authority vested in it by the provisions of this section and the effectiveness of the provisions of this section in reducing the occurrence of alcohol-related incidents.

10. (a) Violation by a facility operator of the provisions of this section or of the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section is a misdemeanor.

(b) Violation of any stadium plan enacted pursuant to this section or the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder is a violation.

11. Severability. If any provision of this section shall be held void or unconstitutional, all other provisions and all other sanctions not expressly held to be void or unconstitutional shall continue in full force and effect.

12. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a facility operator may reduce the total number of seats segregated as non-alcohol seating as necessary to assure local television broadcast of a particular sporting event when ninety-nine percent of all other seating is unavailable, so long as the facility operator, prior to the commencement of the sporting season, files with the state liquor authority for a plan of reduction in the consumption of alcoholic beverages that includes:

(i) restrictions in those areas that were to be segregated as non-alcohol seating that exceed the limitations on non-vending, but which do not prohibit the consumption of alcohol in toto;

(ii) the development of additional security personnel in those areas that were to be segregated as non-alcohol seating, or such other areas in which persons requesting non-alcohol seating are located; and

(iii) a plan of marketing, promotion, method of merchandising and location of non-alcoholic seating, and a description of the seats to be declassified as non-alcohol seats.

(b) The provisions of this subdivision shall apply only in those instances where a facility is operated with two percent of its seating segregated as non-alcohol seating in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(c) In the event that a facility operator invokes the provisions of this subdivision for its intended purposes, the facility operator shall notify the state liquor authority at least three days before the particular sporting event of the utilization of this subdivision, the time period in which the provisions of this subdivision shall be in effect, and certify that such utilization is based on the unavailability of seating in all remaining sections of the facility.

* NB Expired Effective July 1, 1993