Zane and Rudofsky, Attorneys & Counsellors at Law. The Starrett-Lehigh Building, 601 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001. 212-245-2222. Fax: 212-541-5555
ADULT BUSINESSES PREVAIL IN PROTRACTED ZONING LITIGATION
New York, NY, July 22, 2015: Adult Businesses Prevail in Protracted Zoning Litigation
In a 3-2 decision, the Appellate Division, First Department, has affirmed a judgment entered in Supreme Court, New York County, which declared the 2001 anti-adult cabaret amendments of the New York City
Zoning Resolution to be unconstitutional under the Free Expression Clause of the New York Constitution. The amendments would have eliminated the so-called "60/40" rule, excluding small clubs from the
definition of "adult establishments" under the Zoning Resolution. The case began in 2002 and led to three decisions in the trial Court, three decisions by the Appellate Division, and one by the Court of Appeals.
In the most recent decision, the Appellate Division majority agreed with the firm's argument that the City failed to carry its burden of proving that clubs that devote less than 40% of their floor space to
adult entertainment are sufficiently similar to clubs that devote 100%, in terms of community impact, to constitutionally permit regulation of the "less than 40%" clubs as if they were the 100% clubs regulated
by the 1995 legislation.
This decision was featured on the front page of the New York Law Journal and the full text of the article can be read here:
"Adult Businesses Prevail in Protracted Zoning Litigation." (New York Law Journal, July 22, 2015)
The full text of the decision can be found:
HERE