Schools, places of worship and the 200- and 500-foot rules
What the law says
New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law §64(7) says, in part:
“No retail license for on-premises consumption shall be granted for any premises which shall be
(a) on the same street or avenue and within two hundred feet of a building occupied exclusively as a school, church, synagogue or other place of worship or
(b) in a city, town or village having a population of twenty thousand or more within five hundred feet of three or more existing premises licensed and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four-a, sixty-four-b, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article;
(c) the measurements in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision are to be taken in straight lines from the center of the nearest entrance of the premises sought to be licensed to the center of the nearest entrance of such school, church, synagogue or other place of worship or to the center of the nearest entrance of each such premises licensed and operating pursuant to this section and sections sixty-four-a, sixty-four-b, sixty-four-c, and/or sixty-four-d of this article …”
Text from nysenate.gov, revision dated 2026-07-31, read 2026-11-04. Similar rules: §64-a (special on-premises licenses), §105 (off-premises liquor and wine stores). SLA's own explanation: SLA, “Measuring the Distance: The 200 and 500 Foot Rules” (PDF, 2013). It is guidance from SLA's Office of Counsel, not the law.
SLAM does not decide whether a rule applies. The law has exceptions, for example for premises licensed continuously since before the school or place of worship was there, and for some renewals. The State Liquor Authority makes that decision.
Cannabis dispensaries: a different law
Cannabis has its own State law. New York Cannabis Law §72(6) says, for adult-use retail dispensaries:
“(a) No premises with a license issued pursuant to this section, or section sixty-eight-a of this article, or section seventy-three of this article that allows for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis, shall be located on the same street and within five hundred feet of a building containing a school.”
“(b) No premises with a license issued pursuant to this section, or section sixty-eight-a of this article, or section seventy-three of this article that allows for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis, shall be located on the same street and within two hundred feet of a building exclusively occupied as a house of worship.”
“(c) The measurements in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision are to be taken in straight lines from the center of the nearest entrance of the premises sought to be licensed to the center of the nearest entrance of such school or house of worship.”
“(f) No renewal of a license shall be denied because of the restrictions in paragraphs (a) or (b) of this subdivision.”
Text from the NYS Senate's Open Legislation service, version active 2026-02-13, read 2026-11-05. Applicants must also notify the community board first: Cannabis Law §76 (notice to the community board).
The differences from the liquor rule: about 500 ft for schools, not 200, and the building only has to contain a school. Address pages with a cannabis record list schools within about 500 ft and houses of worship within about 200 ft. SLAM does not decide whether this rule applies. The Office of Cannabis Management recommends and the Cannabis Control Board decides.
How SLAM measures
Distances are approximate. The law measures from the center of the nearest entrance of one building to the center of the nearest entrance of the other. SLAM cannot measure door to door: it has no entrance locations. It measures a straight line between approximate building points, from the City's address search or from each dataset's own map point. Those points can sit away from the door, so a SLAM distance can differ from an entrance-to-entrance measurement by tens of feet or more, especially for large or corner buildings. Treat a distance near a limit as close, not as over or under it.
The law measures between the centers of the nearest entrances. SLAM has no entrances. It measures a straight line between building points: the address page's point (the City's address point, from the City's own address file, when the address matched, otherwise the average of the records' own points), the school's point in the Facilities Database, the tax lot's point in PLUTO, and each license's point from SLA. Every distance is approximate, building point to building point.
Address pages list schools, houses of worship and other religious property within about 200 ft, and count other addresses with an active on-premises liquor license within about 500 ft.
- Same street. "Same street" compares the street names written in the records, after removing floor, suite and unit text. A corner building fronts more than one street, and the records list only one address for each school or lot.
- Houses of worship are PLUTO tax lots in building class M1 (Church, Synagogue, Chapel). Other religious property is class M2 (Mission House (Non-Residential)), M3 (Parsonage, Rectory), M4 (Convents), M9 (Miscellaneous). PLUTO does not call those a place of worship. Class names from the PLUTO DATA DICTIONARY August 2026 (26v2), M. CHURCHES, SYNAGOGUES, ETC.. PLUTO has no names for these lots.
- Schools are the Facilities Database's K-12 schools (public, charter, non-public and special education). Some are listed at an office or mailing address; the address page says so where known.
- The license count uses active SLA licenses of type 1, classes 0340 to 0421 (on-premises liquor, from SLA license type and class definitions, Excel file), in New York, Kings, Queens counties (SLA's spelling). It leaves out additional bars, wine- and beer-only licenses, and pending applications. "Active" is SLA's license status; it does not show that a place is operating.
Sources: Facilities Database (schools, data last updated Jul 16, 2026, 1:33 PM); Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO) (building classes M1 to M4 and M9, data last updated Aug 24, 2026, 4:48 PM); Current Liquor Authority Active Licenses (data last updated Nov 7, 2026, 8:35 PM).