NY Liquor Authority maps bars online

ALBANY -- New York's Liquor Authority has posted an online map of about 55,000 licensed bars, restaurants and stores selling alcohol statewide, including their disciplinary history and pending license applications.

The interactive map launched earlier this year shows where the establishments fit within police precinct boundaries, their distances from each other, and whether schools and churches are nearby.

It doesn't list pending complaints for violations such as selling alcohol to minors until cases are concluded.

The information is updated nightly, authority spokesman William Crowley said. The agency plans to review the data to complete listings, including nearly 2,800 initially rejected by its geographic information system.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Manhattan), who pushed for $369,000 to fund the project in 2009, said it brings needed transparency to licensing. "It's leaps and bounds forward from where the State Liquor Authority was," he said.

The map offers background useful to new businesses that need to know where other licensees are located, as well as churches and schools, to ensure they comply with distance restrictions, Squadron said.

Community boards in New York City wanted better access to Liquor Authority information, partly to know how many bars are within 500 feet of each other, said Susan Stetzer, district manager for Manhattan Community Board 3 on the Lower East Side.

When three or more full licensees are located within 500 feet, state law requires a hearing before adding another, giving the community a chance to speak out, she said.

Scott Wexler, executive director of the Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association, said the current Liquor Authority website is more helpful and easier to navigate.