By Gamal Hennessy
Last week the Inspector General raided the offices of the State Liquor Authority. Former SLA employees are being accused of bribing employees to manipulate the system. While the investigation focuses on the gift cards and other petty items offered in exchange for “preferred” treatment, officials need to focus on the underlying situation that created the fraud and clean up the liquor licensing system.
The New York State Alcohol Beverage Control Law (ABC) states that an application for a liquor license should get an initial review within 30 days. Nightlife operators have complained for years that the review often took 2-3 months because of a lack of inspectors among other issues. Recently, nightlife opponents in the outgoing administration managed to drag out that period to 6-8 months.
Operators became increasingly frustrated with the process, since the investment in a bar or club can’t start to make money until they can sell liquor and they can’t sell liquor without a license. That’s where the “handlers” would come in. For a fee, these former SLA employees would offer ‘expedited service’ for an application. The IG claims that the service they performed was calling up their friends who still worked in the SLA, and asking for the applications to get moved to the top of the pile. In return, the handlers would give their friends gift cards and, ironically, bottles of liquor. The IG alleges that some applicants got their forms processed in as little as 11 days instead of waiting half a year or more.
It is regrettable that people in positions of authority, however minor, are willing to manipulate the bureaucracy for their own personal advantage. But the larger issue revolves around the system itself. Robert Bookman, attorney for the New York Nightlife Association, sees this raid as the result of a dysfunctional system:
“It takes 8 months to get a liquor license when the law requires it be done in 30 days. Huge investments are sitting and waiting for a license that is long overdue. Is it any wonder that people will get desperate and will do whatever they have to just to get an honest review of their application? That is the real scandal here. Notice there are no allegations that anyone got a license that they were not entitled to. The crime is that the applications were reviewed quickly…the way they are supposed to be reviewed. I am not condoning illegal activity, but no one has been listening about this unlawful, unacceptable wait for liquor licenses before now.”
If the leaders of the SLA essentially broke the law and created a situation where potential operators have to wait 6-8 months for a license, and refused to hire more examiners, then they created the atmosphere for corrupt practices in the Harlem office. The responsibility for this corruption needs to go a lot higher than the clerks who took Applebee’s gift cards. It needs to lead to a revamping of the whole process. Governor Paterson said he supported “the actions of the I.G.’s office to uncover any wrongdoing that may have occurred within the S.L.A. and is working with the S.L.A. to rebuild the organization.” Hopefully this raid can be the beginning of an overhaul that helps bring jobs and revenue to the state while cleaning up a government agency at the same time.
Have fun.
Gamal
Last week the Inspector General raided the offices of the State Liquor Authority. Former SLA employees are being accused of bribing employees to manipulate the system. While the investigation focuses on the gift cards and other petty items offered in exchange for “preferred” treatment, officials need to focus on the underlying situation that created the fraud and clean up the liquor licensing system.
The New York State Alcohol Beverage Control Law (ABC) states that an application for a liquor license should get an initial review within 30 days. Nightlife operators have complained for years that the review often took 2-3 months because of a lack of inspectors among other issues. Recently, nightlife opponents in the outgoing administration managed to drag out that period to 6-8 months.
Operators became increasingly frustrated with the process, since the investment in a bar or club can’t start to make money until they can sell liquor and they can’t sell liquor without a license. That’s where the “handlers” would come in. For a fee, these former SLA employees would offer ‘expedited service’ for an application. The IG claims that the service they performed was calling up their friends who still worked in the SLA, and asking for the applications to get moved to the top of the pile. In return, the handlers would give their friends gift cards and, ironically, bottles of liquor. The IG alleges that some applicants got their forms processed in as little as 11 days instead of waiting half a year or more.
It is regrettable that people in positions of authority, however minor, are willing to manipulate the bureaucracy for their own personal advantage. But the larger issue revolves around the system itself. Robert Bookman, attorney for the New York Nightlife Association, sees this raid as the result of a dysfunctional system:
“It takes 8 months to get a liquor license when the law requires it be done in 30 days. Huge investments are sitting and waiting for a license that is long overdue. Is it any wonder that people will get desperate and will do whatever they have to just to get an honest review of their application? That is the real scandal here. Notice there are no allegations that anyone got a license that they were not entitled to. The crime is that the applications were reviewed quickly…the way they are supposed to be reviewed. I am not condoning illegal activity, but no one has been listening about this unlawful, unacceptable wait for liquor licenses before now.”
If the leaders of the SLA essentially broke the law and created a situation where potential operators have to wait 6-8 months for a license, and refused to hire more examiners, then they created the atmosphere for corrupt practices in the Harlem office. The responsibility for this corruption needs to go a lot higher than the clerks who took Applebee’s gift cards. It needs to lead to a revamping of the whole process. Governor Paterson said he supported “the actions of the I.G.’s office to uncover any wrongdoing that may have occurred within the S.L.A. and is working with the S.L.A. to rebuild the organization.” Hopefully this raid can be the beginning of an overhaul that helps bring jobs and revenue to the state while cleaning up a government agency at the same time.
Have fun.
Gamal
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