On August 22, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed Assembly Bill A7040-B, creating a new liquor license category for for-profit membership clubs. The law, which takes effect on February 18, 2026, represents a long-awaited update to New York’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. Historically, only not-for-profit clubs—such as fraternal organizations or benevolent associations—could obtain a club license […]

Recently the State Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) notified 152 cannabis dispensaries and applicants that the location of their businesses were too close to a school or house of worship to qualify for a license. New York Cannabis Law §72(6) provides, “No cannabis retail licensee shall locate a storefront within five hundred feet of a school grounds as such […]

There seems to be a great deal of confusion surrounding the concept of wine products. In New York, “wine product” is a term of art that must be distinguished from “Wine”, “low alcohol wine”, and “wine specialty items.” Pursuant to §3 (36) of New York’s ABC Law, “Wine” means the product of the normal alcoholic […]