Summary
holding that § 1175 "cannot be understood to deprive municipalities of the prerogative, in the exercise of their police powers, to reasonably regulate the conduct of shipboard gambling businesses operating from within their jurisdictional bounds"
Summary of this case from Leisure Time Cruise Corp. v. Town of BarnstableOpinion
February 2, 1999
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Paula Omansky, J.).
We find nothing in the amendments to the Johnson Act ( 15 U.S.C. § 1175) to support plaintiffs contention that they were intended by Congress to preempt local regulation of so-called gambling "cruises to nowhere". Nor is there any indication that the challenged enactment, Local Law 57 (adding Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 20-950 et seq.), actually conflicts with the amendments to the Johnson Act. Although the cited amendments to the Johnson Act relaxed Congress's former prohibition against shipboard gambling, they cannot be understood to deprive States or municipalities of the prerogative, in the exercise of their police powers, to reasonably regulate the conduct of shipboard gambling businesses operating from within their jurisdictional bounds ( see, 15 U.S.C. § 1175 [b] [2] [a]).
Concur — Ellerin, J. P., Williams, Wallach and Tom, JJ.