NYC Adult Entertainment Zoning Law Fails to Survive Constitutional Challenge

by Victor Kinon on September 10, 2012

Keeping adult entertainment businesses out of local neighborhoods continues to be a challenge for New York and New Jersey communities. New York City recently saw its latest zoning law struck down by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Louis York.

The challenged New York City zoning ordinance, which was enacted back in 2001, sought to close a loophole in the prior law that defined “adult establishment” as any business where more than 40 percent of its material was sexually oriented in nature. New York City had argued that the so-called 60/40 rule was prone to abuse by businesses that kept a small stock of non-explicit materials to avoid the zoning restrictions.