Press Release — May 12, 2026
NYC Attorney Sues State Liquor Authority Chair Lily Fan for Hiding Data on Which Bars and Restaurants Can Have Live Music and Dancing
Lawsuit Filed In the New York Supreme Court After 14 Months of the SLA’s Stonewalling Public Records Requests and Chair Fan Ignoring a 2024 Warning Letter and Six Years of Violating a 2019 Transparency Law
NYC’s Dancing and Music Zoning Reform Means Nothing — Is the SLA Doing Anything to Help Venues Modify Their Licenses?
Alan D. Sugarman v. Lily M. Fan, Edgar De Leon, John Maya, New York State Liquor Authority, New York County Supreme Court, Docket 56072/2026.
- NYC repealed the Cabaret Law in 2017 and reformed zoning in 2024 to allow live music and dancing in thousands of previously restricted venues — but those reforms only work if individual venues file a Method of Operation change request with the SLA. Sugarman sought these records to find out whether venues were filing such requests and whether the SLA was doing anything to help — information essential for evaluating whether the reforms are working. The SLA’s refusal leaves everyone in the dark.
- A 2019 New York State law — Alcoholic Beverage Control Law § 110-c — requires the SLA to make publicly available all conditions it imposes on liquor licenses, including restrictions on live music and patron dancing. That law has been ignored for six years. After complying briefly, the SLA quietly removed this data from its public database — leaving legislators and the public with no way to evaluate the SLA’s impact.
Fan Was Warned Personally — and Did Nothing
In December 2024, Sugarman wrote directly to Chair Fan, documenting that the SLA had removed Method of Operation data from its public database, demanding its restoration, and asking how the SLA planned to help venues modify their licenses to permit patron dancing and live music.
Fan never responded. Sugarman was then forced to file three formal public records requests starting March 2025 — and when those too were stonewalled, to bring this lawsuit.
SLA Asserted High Volume of FOIL Requests Prevented Compliance
Three public records requests filed starting March 2025 were met, every single month for over a year, with a word-for-word identical form letter — the SLA’s response, verbatim every month: “Due to a high number of FOIL requests recently received, it has taken longer than anticipated to respond.” Never a legal reason, never an actual answer — and even after the SLA’s own appeals officer ruled in January 2026 that the delays were unjustified and ordered production within 20 days, the SLA still failed to comply.
What the Data Shows — Even at 60% Completeness
Even the SLA’s partial production — covering only 60% of NYC venues — already reveals that 82% of NYC on-premises venues lack explicit permission for live music, 77% lack explicit permission for dancing, and some venues carry restrictions limiting them to specific ethnic or national music — including Mariachi only, Latin music only, and Irish traditional music only.
About the Petitioner
Sugarman is an NYC attorney and member of the Coalition of Musicians and Dancers to Eliminate Regulations Against Music and Dancing, and was among the supporters of the 2017 Cabaret Law repeal and the 2018 NYC zoning reform.
More Information
Lawsuit page with all petition documents: http://dance-music-regulation.com/document/freedom-of-information-law-suit-filed-against-new-york-state-liquor-authority-chair-lily-fan
2024 letter to Chair Fan: http://dance-music-regulation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-12-07-Letter-Sugarman-to-SLA-Chair-Chan-Method-of-Operation-Data-Removed.pdf
2019 Law: http://dance-music-regulation.com/wp-content/uploads/Art78_Petitioner_Ex._18.pdf
Court docket: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=BRghvabPanJuqe4BOFiZQw==&display=all&courtType=New%20York%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1
Contact: Alan D. Sugarman | sugarman@sugarlaw.com | 917-208-1516
| # |
File |
Description |
| Pleadings |
| 1 |
Notice of Petition |
Notice of Petition |
| 2 |
Verified Petition |
Verified Petition |
| 3 |
Petitioner’s Memorandum of Law |
Petitioner’s Memorandum of Law |
| 4 |
RJI |
Request for Judicial Intervention (RJI) |
| Petitioner’s Exhibits |
| 1 |
Petitioner Ex. 1 |
Ex. 1 FOIL Request I R000615-030125 – Records of All Requests to Modify Method of Operation for Dance and Music, March 1, 2025 |
| 2 |
Petitioner Ex. 2 |
Ex. 2 FOIL Request II R001683-060625 – Method of Operation Requests Database, June 6, 2025 |
| 3 |
Petitioner Ex. 3 |
Ex. 3 FOIL Request III R001685-060625 – Comprehensive Method of Operation Database for All Licensed Premises, June 6, 2025 |
| 4 |
Petitioner Ex. 4 |
Ex. 4 Petitioner’s Administrative Appeal of SLA FOIL Responses, January 5, 2026 |
| 5 |
Petitioner Ex. 5 |
Ex. 5 SLA Determination on Petitioner’s Administrative Appeal, January 20, 2026 |
| 6 |
Petitioner Ex. 6 |
Ex. 6 Petitioner’s Response to SLA Appeal Determination, February 2, 2026 |
| 7 |
Petitioner Ex. 7 |
Ex. 7 Petitioner’s Further Response Letter to SLA Appeals Officer, February 16, 2026 |
| 8 |
Petitioner Ex. 8 |
Ex. 8 Email Correspondence Petitioner and SLA FOIL Officer Gough, March to August 2025 |
| 9 |
Petitioner Ex. 9 |
Ex. 9 FOIL Portal Report Request I, January 5, 2026 |
| 10 |
Petitioner Ex. 10 |
Ex. 10 FOIL Portal Report Request II, July 15, 2025 |
| 11 |
Petitioner Ex. 11 |
Ex. 11 FOIL Portal Report Request III, January 20, 2026 |
| 12 |
Petitioner Ex. 12 |
Ex. 12 FOIL Portal Messages Request I, March 1, 2025 to January 5, 2026 |
| 13 |
Petitioner Ex. 13 |
Ex. 13 FOIL Portal Messages Request II, June 6, 2025 to April 15, 2026 |
| 14 |
Petitioner Ex. 14 |
Ex. 14 SLA Response to FOIL Request I – Incomplete Method of Operation Files, March 1, 2025 |
| 15 |
Petitioner Ex. 15 |
Ex. 15 Sample Snapshot of SLA Excel Response to FOIL Request III – Database Showing Method of Operation Information Only 60% Complete, January 20, 2026 |
| 16 |
Petitioner Ex. 16 |
Ex. 16 Petitioner’s Analysis of SLA Incomplete Response to FOIL Request III – Data Required by Statute, May 5, 2026 |
| 17 |
Petitioner Ex. 17 |
Ex. 17 SLA Standard Official Form – Request to Modify Method of Operation, Revised September 30, 2013 |
| 18 |
Petitioner Ex. 18 |
Ex. 18 New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Section 110-c – Statutory Text, enacted 2019 |
| 19 |
Petitioner Ex. 19 |
Ex. 19 L 2019 Chapter 340 – Act Enacting New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Section 110-c, October 4, 2019 |
| 20 |
Petitioner Ex. 20 |
Ex. 20 SLA Method of Operation Spreadsheet Showing Only 17 Requests from Method of Operation Database Not Produced under Request II, June 2024 to July 2025 |
| 21 |
Petitioner Ex. 21 |
Ex. 21 FOIL Portal Request I Initial Partial Production, July 18, 2025 |
| 22 |
Petitioner Ex. 22 |
Ex. 22 Petitioners Message to SLA Challenging Credibility of Spreadsheet with Only 17 Items, July 17, 2025 |
| 23 |
Petitioner Ex. 23 |
Ex. 23 FOIL Appeal Portal Combined Appeal Requests I, II and III, January 5 to January 20, 2026 |
| 24 |
Petitioner Ex. 24 |
Ex. 24 FOIL Portal Request I SLA File Upload of Method of Operation Files, July 18, 2025 |
| 25 |
Petitioner Ex. 25 |
Ex. 25 FOIL Appeal Portal File Uploads Appeal Determination and Active License Files P000001-010526, January 20, 2026 |
| 26 |
Petitioner Ex. 26 |
Ex. 26 Comparison of Database Column Headers Ex. 15 vs. Ex. 20, May 8, 2026 |
| 27 |
Petitioner Ex. 27 |
Ex. 27 FOIL Portal Messages Request III R001685-060625 – SLA Delay Responses Citing High Volume, July 11, 2025 to January 16, 2026 |
