Liquor Law Overhaul Could Create 4,000 Jobs in New York, Lobbying Group Says

Bottles of liquor and wine from various countries on display at a liquor store in lower Manhattan, New York, NY, March 13, 2025. (Photo: Anthony Behar/SipaUSA)(Sipa via AP Images)

A business coalition has launched a campaign that hopes to radically reform New York’s alcohol laws, many of which were enacted during the Prohibition era. If passed, the proposal would rewrite how and where liquor stores do business in the state, setting a precedent that may prove controversial for consumers and local business owners alike.

On Sunday, the Better Business Council of New York State launched “Cheers for Change,” a policy campaign that takes aim at a bevy of outdated alcohol sales restrictions. The plan includes 18 recommendations to modernize the state’s alcohol laws, including the granting of more licences, allowances for chain retailers and permission for bars and restaurants to buy directly from liquor stores.

The group predicts that the changes could create 4,000 new jobs across New York, equivalent to over $200 million in new and expanded wages and benefits and $500 million in new economic activity. An additional $100 million in estimated tax revenue is predicted to help the state recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New York has made real progress, and we applaud Governor Hochul, the Legislature and the State Liquor Authority for beginning the work of modernizing the state’s alcohol laws,” Paul Zuber, executive vice president of the Business Council of New York State, told the New York Post. “But there is still a long way to go. New York’s hospitality economy, small businesses and consumers deserve a liquor law framework that reflects the realities of 2026 — not 1934.”

Speaking for the proposal, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance Andrew Rigie stressed the importance of updating the 200-foot and 500-foot laws, which can block retailers from selling alcohol near a school or place of worship, and make it harder for competing stores to sell booze close to one another. He also hopes for a modernization of “tied-house restrictions,” which prohibit businesses with stakes in one tier of the industry (manufacturing or wholesaling) from holding ownership interests in another (liquor stores).

So far, so good for local businesses! Or so it would seem.

The caveat of all this — at least, for liquor store owners —  is the push for licensees to be able to own more than one retail location. Liquor store chains like Total Wine and BevMo! have long been banned in New York, while companies like Trader Joe’s and Costco, though prolific throughout the state, are famously unable to sell any kind of alcohol products. As the Business Council correctly points out, this is a holdover from the Prohibition era, when lawmakers worried that gangsters like Al Capone might covertly monopolize alcohol sales and run out the competition.

Nearly a century later, liquor store lobbying groups worry that the same thing might happen, but this time, with overt approval. Groups like the Metropolitan Package Store Association have lobbied hard against chain retailers, arguing that their introduction could push out the state’s over 3,500 independent, family-owned liquor stores.

Up until now, the debate has largely revolved around the sale of wine in grocery stores, a proposal that 78% of New Yorkers supported in a 2023 poll, but has remained firmly opposed by liquor store organizations. The Business Council’s “Cheers for Change” plan would stretch the limits exponentially further. While local businesses would be able to open more locations, so too would juggernauts like Total Wine.

The Business Council’s proposal encompasses dozens of legislative changes, and it’s highly unlikely that all, if any, would be passed in a single stroke. As the plan makes its way toward the state legislature, expect to see spirited arguments on both sides of the aisle from the many, many interested parties with skin in the game.