Alcohol Policy for Graduate Student, Faculty and Staff Events

Columbia Event Management is the exclusive catering provider to Lerner Hall and Faculty House. 

Event sponsors using outside catering providers for University events must adhere to the following University protocol:

• If alcohol will be served at the event, the vendor must provide a copy of its Special Event Permit (see above) which must be applied for a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of the event date. The permit can be applied for on the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) website.
• All caterers are required by Columbia to have a current valid permit to operate an FSE (see Section 1. Required Documents & Permits) to provide evidence that the food is originating from a commercial kitchen and/or a licensed premises.

Additionally,

• If alcohol will be served at the event, the vendor must comply with the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) laws as set forth on the SLA website.  The vendor must also comply with the terms and conditions of the Special Event Permit, which are currently as follows:

All Special Event Permits in general:

1. No person shall sell, deliver or give away or cause or permit or procure to be sold, delivered or given away any alcoholic beverages to any person, actually or apparently under the age of twenty‐one years.  

2. No child, actually or apparently under the age of 16 years will be admitted to the premises at which event is held unless accompanied by their parent or guardian or by an adult person authorized by its parent or guardian, as provided by of §260.20 of the Penal Law.  

3. No sale or service of alcoholic beverages shall be made during the hours prohibited by the provisions of §106 (5) of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law or by rule of the county government having jurisdiction in the county in which the event is held.  

4. No alcoholic beverage may be sold, served or consumed in any area where bingo is played.  

5. Alcoholic beverages must be purchased from a licensed brewer, winery, or wholesaler ONLY, and not from a retail licensee.  

6. A separate permit is required for each point of sale for each date. The permit must be on display at the event.

Temporary Beer & Wine Permits: 

With an exception provided for Lerner Hall (which possesses a building-wide liquor license), Section 97  of the New York State ABC laws currently authorizes those with a temporary beer and wine permit to sell only beer or wine  at retail for consumption at a gathering for a period not to exceed 24 consecutive hours.  Such permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed 24 consecutive hours commencing 8:00 a.m. of the effective date of such permit except that in no event shall the sale of beer be permitted prior to 12:00 Noon on Sunday or during the hours prohibited by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law or by rule of the county government in which the event is being held.  This permit shall be subject to the following conditions:

1. Application must be received by the Liquor Authority a minimum of 15 days prior to the event.  

2. No alcoholic beverages except beer or wine may be kept or be permitted to be kept or sold on the premises during the period that any permit issued in accordance with this application is in effect.  

3. No beer or wine may be taken from the premises where said event is held except that at the termination of said event, any beer or wine which shall remain on hand will be removed from said premises by brewer, winery or wholesaler from which it was purchased, or by its designated agent.

4. Beer may not be sold, served or consumed in rooms or areas in which authorized games of chance are held. Applicants must provide a copy of the Racing and Wagering certificate with the application.

5. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Law currently limits the number of Temporary Beer & Wine permits that can be issued for a location to four (4) permits during a 12 month period.

Caterers Permit

With an exception provided for Lerner Hall (which possesses a building-wide liquor license), Section 98 currently authorizes an active on‐premises retail licensee with a caterers permit to furnish alcoholic beverages for use at a specific event located off the licensed premises.   Applicant must be hired to furnish provisions (food) and alcoholic beverages at the event. An applicant cannot cater for themselves.   Such permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed 24 consecutive hours commencing 8:00 a.m. of the effective date of such permit and shall authorize the permittee to furnish provisions and alcoholic beverages for use at an indoor event.  (Please note that outdoor events, to be held in a reservable space, will require physical delimiting of the area of consumption unless part of an approved licensed premises.

This permit shall be subject to the following conditions:  

1.     Application must be received by the Liquor Authority a minimum of 15 days prior to the event.  

2.     A menu must be submitted to the SLA at the time of application.

Food Must Be Present

In accordance with §64‐a of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, food must be present in order for an event to proceed with alcohol.  This means that food to be served must be on site at the venue and accounted for.  If food is en route, the event cannot proceed until the food arrives.

The food provided must meet the minimum requirements under for example: fish, chicken, salads, soups, sandwiches, finger foods. Pretzels and potato chips do not meet the minimum requirements for food.

In addition to substantial food, non-alcoholic beverages (such as water, flavored water, soda, juice, or other non-alcoholic beverages) must be available at the event.

It is the responsibility of the event sponsor to be in compliance with the food requirement.

Number of Bars

The number of bars filed for during the permit application process and listed on the Temporary Beer & Wine permit or the Caterers permit must be the same as the number of bars serving alcohol at the venue.  A “bar” is defined as any point of alcohol service at the venue.  If the permit was filed for one bar, and you have two service points, then you are in violation of the ABC Laws.  Be certain that your setup conforms to the number of bars that were approved on your diagram & permit. It is the responsibility of the event sponsor to be in compliance with the terms of the permit, which will reflect the number of bars allowed at the event.

“Bring Your Own” Rule

The ABC laws prohibit bring-your-own alcohol in any public establishment which does not possess a valid liquor license.  Further, Lerner Hall and Faculty House do not allow “BYOB”, also known as bring-your-own-alcohol.  Bring-your-own alcohol can be done at invitation only events where all guests are 21 years of age or older.

Alcohol Statement of Policy