In this episode of the "Legal Bites Podcast" series, Food and Beverage Litigation attorneys Charles Weiss and Christopher Riano, along with Practice Development Manager Kristina Merritt, speak with New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores about his sponsorship of the New York State Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act. The act, which took effect in February 2025, blocks third-party restaurant reservation platforms from selling reservations without an agreement with the restaurant. Assemblymember Bores explains he had received complaints from many industry stakeholders about platforms taking reservations and reselling them for hundreds of dollars, prompting him to take action. In this episode, he provides an in-depth look at how the law came to be, as well as the issues he is currently addressing and plans to tackle in the future.
Listen to more episodes of Legal Bites here.
Podcast Transcript
Kristina Merritt: Welcome to our "Legal Bites Podcast" series. Today, we have an opportunity to sit down with New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores of the 73rd District. My name is Kristina Merritt, and my co-hosts are Charles Weiss and Chris Riano. Assemblymember Bores, thank you so much for joining and sharing your time with us.
Alex Bores: Thank you for having me.
Charles Weiss: So this is Charles Weiss. We're talking today about a first-in-the-nation-statute of which Assemblymember Bores was a sponsor. This is the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, which took effect in February 2025. We'll talk a bit more about the details later on in the podcast. But in summary, it prohibits listing or selling restaurant reservations on a website or on an app unless the person doing that has a written agreement with the restaurant that permits it. Assemblymember Bores, can you tell us what was the impetus behind your sponsorship of the act?
Alex Bores: There were a few different things that came together. I actually first heard about this issue from the perspective of diners. It was neighbors of mine and friends of mine that kept saying, "Hey, it's really hard to get a restaurant reservation." And there was some press covering that as well. Why is it so hard to get a reservation all of a sudden in New York City? And then again, neighbors, friends who were maybe trying to have a special night out and stretching because they were celebrating a graduation or an anniversary found that at those kinds of restaurants, maybe there was a reservation available, but people were selling them for $500, $1,000, even $1,500 just to get the reservation, just to sit down at a table. That doesn't even include the cost of the meal. So that seemed off.
And then I heard directly from restaurants and they said, "Hey, there are these platforms that are, in effect, implicitly encouraging people to make reservations they don't intend to keep and then sell them for profit. And what happens to us — first of all, we don't know who's coming in the door. You know, there's sometimes where we've had bad customers in the past and we try to shepherd them out. Now we don't know who's coming in the door. But more importantly, quite frequently when the reservation doesn't sell, it just gets canceled. And then we have an empty table and we're not getting the revenue from the table. Even worse, the wait staff who are operating on tips are not getting that tip." So even when the restaurants may be charged for making a reservation, you're still hurting the wait staff if that ends up canceled. And so this just felt like a really noxious brew of circumstances.
And so you try to think anytime you have a digital equivalent, a new technology, you think what would this look like in the analog world? And in the analog world, it would be everyone lining up for some things on some cue, but someone gets there early with chalk and writes in the first spot. You know, if I'm doing it, Alex Bores, I own this spot. And then they go back two spots and they're like, oh, also third spot, Alex Bores, I own that spot. And then, they walk back and they go, oh, fifth spot, Alex Boris, I own the spot. And then someone tries to line up and say, no, no, no, you can't stand in that spot, I own that one, too, right? It makes no sense. The idea is a reservation should be one person who's going out or one family that's going out for it. And so just because it's digital didn't seem like we should be allowing this practice that was hurting every single party that was involved in it. It was hurting families. It was hurting the wait staff. It was hurting the restaurants.
Charles Weiss: Interesting. And I guess going to your thing about the analog, it really is qualitatively different from the restaurant's perspective versus the thing about somebody who is standing in line to get into some event and then says I'll sell my spot in line for 50 bucks, because if nobody buys that spot, that person just drops out of line and the person behind him goes in. And there's really — I mean, other than the fact that it's kind of obnoxious — there's no loss to anyone.
Alex Bores: Correct.
Charles Weiss: Whereas I guess the problem with the digital thing is you can do this in bulk.
Alex Bores: Exactly.
Charles Weiss: So when I was a kid, I think that a portion of what your district is was called the "Silk Stocking District." I didn't know if people still know that phrase. So I'm curious, like, is this one of those things that there was a particular issue in your district with the restaurants, or just more general with your constituents and people across the city who you talk with — or anything about your committee service in the Assembly other than what you'd said about the complaints that you got — that specifically focused you on this issue?
Alex Bores: It certainly, I think, was a larger issue in my district, or maybe it hit my district first, right? This is going to be a particular issue when the demand for any restaurant far outstrips the supply. And so I'm very lucky in my district to have a lot of in-demand restaurants, a lot of new restaurants. But we really thought this was sort of ground zero of the problem and saw it spreading. I mean, when you spoke to many of these platforms, they talked about, "We grew 50 percent last year. We grew 100 percent last year." So even if it was starting in my district, we saw it was quickly going to be in many places and wanted to nip that in the bud before it became a statewide issue.
Christopher Riano: This bill really is fascinating on so many levels. I have the privilege of having served as the general counsel of the State Liquor Authority previously and also an assistant counsel to the governor. And for our listeners who aren't familiar with New York politics and geography, New York is not just New York City. It's a lot more rural than people might imagine, especially once you head north of what we all call Bear Mountain, right? As soon as you get up north, this state looks very different. And so it's really not uncommon to see this incredible political divide. And Albany is one of the most unique places I've ever had the chance to work. And I'm sure you feel the same way, especially coming from New York City. Tell us a little bit more about what it was like getting a bill like this through the Assembly, through the Senate, and then, obviously, through the governor's office.
Alex Bores: You're absolutely right, and people, I think, forget how large and diverse our state is and that, you know, we're an agriculture state and that sort of changes people's perspective. This idea was so clear and there was such a clear right and wrong in the scenario that we didn't seem to have those real geographic divides. I mean, Carrie Woerner is an upstate member who co-sponsored the bill. Anil (AJ) Beephan — who, I want to be clear, because there's an argument on where upstate and downstate begin, I think AJ Beephan is clearly downstate, even though he's north of the city — but a Republican was a co-sponsor of the bill. And I think it passed in the Assembly with only one "no" vote. I mean, there was near-unanimous support of it. So it didn't have that, perhaps, divide that you see on other issues, but certainly it was, it hit my district first. And I think when the legislature is operating at its best, we can all be early warnings for each other. Maybe it's my district on the restaurant issue. Maybe it is my colleague Billy Jones' district in the North Country on tariffs, right? When you're right along the border of Canada, he's telling us what's happening on the ground first there. Maybe it's other areas that represent farming places that can talk to us about the impact on the workforce and immigration. So we are all the best advocates for our own area, and the legislature as a whole works best when we are sharing each other's expertise. So this wasn't a, you know, New York City-verse kind of issue thankfully. Even if it was hitting New York City first, everywhere else didn't want it to hit where they were.
Charles Weiss: Got it. So in response to Chris' question, we heard that there was no real opposition in the legislature or anything to this. When I had read articles about the act, which is when it first came to my attention, there was someone who ran one of these unauthorized businesses, reselling the reservations, who was sort of pitching it as a populist thing, that people who didn't have connections to pay the concierge at the fancy hotel and then pay the maître d' at the fancy restaurant, that this was an equalizer kind of thing. So obviously you don't agree with that. You would actually refer to the business as a leech industry of reservation stealing, which I love. But so, were there any people or companies that ran these websites that showed up and argued and lobbied and made their case to the legislature, or did they sort of just disappear into the shadows once this started going forward?
Alex Bores: The only opposition came from the platforms. Everyone else who's involved in this arena, anyone who goes to a restaurant, works at a restaurant, owns a restaurant, was strongly in support of this bill. The apps of course didn't like being regulated. Most people don't. But it wasn't a very loud or robust pushback. I think, you know, I don't want to jump the net and say what was in their mind, but you know, maybe it was an instance of, well, you caught us. And they've pivoted to sort of new business models now. But this was not one where — most issues have people on both sides. Most issues are tough choices. This one didn't seem to be one.
Christopher Riano: You know, it's interesting. I can certainly think of my own times regulating the apps, and it's an interesting world. And I think from the perspective of the restaurant industry, did the restaurant industry want to engage to make the bill even stronger? I mean, the act has statutory damage cap for violation. It really looks to the attorney general's office for seeking relief. And how did those kind of negotiations come about to actually put teeth for enforcement?
Alex Bores: We based this bill on one that had passed, I think, two years prior, maybe three years prior, regulating the delivery apps. And so a lot of the language of the first version was a copy of that. And it included some stronger provisions. One of which was a private right of action that would allow the restaurants and diners, in fact, to directly recover. To make it so that the apps basically had no claim on revenue because everything that they were receiving could be gotten back in a lawsuit, could be recovered as damages. Ultimately, our focus was making sure we got this passed last session, right? For those that aren't as familiar with the state legislature in New York, as in most places, we only meet for the first six months of the year. And then the second half we get to be in our districts directly connecting with constituents and only go back to Albany if there's a hearing or an emergency or something like that. And so, for us, we really wanted to get this passed by June versus waiting another year or at least six months to get this bill through and bring relief to people.
And so, anytime you're doing a private right of action, people are thoughtful and want to make sure that's going forward. Anytime you're introducing new damages, people want to analyze it. And so it became clear to us that we probably could pass it with those stronger provisions, but we could definitely pass it during that session, in just the few weeks since it was launched, if we narrowed it a little bit. And I think that was something everyone was happy with to get the immediate relief now. And again, the goal was to really stop this practice. The goal wasn't to enable the recovery of damages after an abuse has happened. The idea was to make sure there weren't abuses. And so we passed this bill as is. And if it turns out that it didn't shut down the market or that it wasn't working, we could always come back the next year and improve it. But I'm happy to say that it really has shut down most of these illegal marketplaces.
Charles Weiss: Right. So have you heard of anybody having to take an action or warning letters from the attorney general? Or, you know, maybe a little bit here and there on the margins, but sounds like it's working.
Alex Bores: Yeah, and I think the proof is in the pudding. You can go on all of those recent apps — not that I would encourage you to do it because I don't think they should exist — but currently they don't offer this service in New York. And to many of their former users, they're trying to pivot into new ways of being a concierge or something like that, or business models that are more beneficial for everyone. But we think this law is one that we can safely say has been very effective.
Charles Weiss: Got it. I mean, I'm an old guy. So when I see there's not a reservation, it's available on one of the authorized apps, I just call the restaurant and, you know, probably eight times out of 10 they'll make a reservation for me. So at least the restaurants that I go to I'm usually able to work something out within a reasonable period of time. I'm not trying to make a reservation for eight people that night or something crazy like that.
Alex Bores: I think that's the best argument against what you cited earlier where they were claiming it was an egalitarian thing. It's not egalitarian to ask someone to pay a thousand dollars just for a reservation before the cost of the meal. What's much more egalitarian is, you know, you call the restaurant. Or, you know, I've had moments where it's like a special day is coming up, the reservation's come out 60 days in advance and I set an alarm and I'm at my computer at 9 a.m. that day to make the reservation. You know, that everyone has the opportunity in a more equal way than putting a direct price attached to it where only those of means really get access.
Christopher Riano: You know, when I read the act too, I noticed there's another section that addresses something totally different. You know, there's a provision that prohibits and renders unenforceable agreements by restaurants to indemnify authorized reservation services for claims that arise under the service's known actions. I'm curious, where did that come from and what were you trying to address with that provision?
Alex Bores: Similarly, that was copied from the bill that was passed on the delivery apps. And so I still think it's important. It ended up falling out of the final bill, again, for the reasons of trying to pass it in the session and get it all the way to the governor's desk and ultimately signed. But it's designed so that when you have a power imbalance between a very large app company, a very large tech company and a small restaurant, you could see this pressure to indemnify the app against any harms, and that just makes it more difficult on our restaurants that are already in an incredibly difficult industry. Most restaurants operate on negligible margins. Most restaurants fail within five years. But the restaurant scene in New York City is one of the reasons people come to New York City. It's one of the benefits of living in New York City. And so we wanted to sort of adjust that power imbalance as well. But the core of the bill, of course, was to shut down this leech industry. And so we narrowed it to focus just on that.
Charles Weiss: So, is there any other legislation or policy issues that you are looking at — where it's coming up through the legislature in terms of the restaurant industry or food and beverage — you know, more generally? Certainly, we hear a lot about artificial colors and things like that, so anything else that's in the pipeline or that you think should be in the pipeline?
Alex Bores: Yeah, there's a lot of things the legislature is looking at, and something specifically that I'm doing bills on — you mentioned food coloring and dyes, my colleague Anna Kelles has a bill on that that she's been working on for a few years — there's a lot of ways that we're going to try to help the industry and help consumers that actually dine at the restaurants. I think the things I'm doing that are most directly related, one is some relief on the commercial rent tax. There's only two jurisdictions in the country that tax the rent that you're paying, and that's in parts of Manhattan and Florida. Those are the only two. And it's this weird incentive that makes it harder to actually rent a space and I think leads to places being more vacant. So we want to take a look at that and see where we can provide relief.
And it may not be directly impacting the restaurants, but I do a lot of legislation around e-bikes and mopeds in the delivery apps and trying to find ways to make that system safer for all. There were two bills I passed last session on that, requiring an investigation anytime an e-bike causes a serious injury, which wasn't state law before. And while mopeds were already required to be registered, they almost never were. So if you looked at the data in December of this past year, the number of mopeds registered in the five boroughs was less than 2,000. And you can look around and know that that's, you know, at least a factor of 10 off and probably even more. So I passed a law that required mopeds be registered at the point of sale. So you can't actually leave the lot until the moped is registered and not say, "Oh, I'm going to register this later." And we've already seen that have a huge effect. The rate of registrations is going way up. And so helping to keep people safer on the streets as they're ordering delivery and keep the workers safer as well has been key of what I'm doing, and I have more bills in that area.
Christopher Riano: You know, I have to ask you the same question I get asked all the time because people always ask me, you know, how in the world did you go to law school to end up as the general counsel of the New York State Liquor Authority? Like, is that a class that you took? And like, how did you ever learn that area of law? And so I've got to, you know, ask you, is this the type of issue that you intended to confront when you decided to enter public service and run, especially as an elected official, if I remember correctly, for the Upper East Side of Manhattan, right? I mean that's just such an incredible area to represent. And then this is the type of bill that you present. I think that that shows so much to our listeners.
Alex Bores: Well, you get questions about you went to law school to be the general counsel. I get questions about getting a master's degree in computer science to go be an elected official. You know, when I was elected in 2022, I became the first Democrat elected in New York state at any level with a degree in computer science. And I worked in tech for 10 years before running. So a lot of my colleagues are perhaps even more confused. I was born and raised on the Upper East Side. So this has always been home to me.
But to your broader question, I made a promise when I ran to make your family safer, your lives simpler and your government more effective. And what I heard again and again during the campaign was the rising costs and how difficult it was for people living in New York. The same way they're rising everywhere, but of course, New York starting at a higher level. And so you have people thinking, can I stay in New York City? Do I have to move out? And so I do a lot of work on housing. I do lot of working on healthcare. I do a lot of work on the things that are driving costs. And this is very much in that vein. This was an additional cost. This was additionally being nickel and dimed for just wanting to go celebrate with your family, just going to have that special moment at a high-demand restaurant. And so for me, yes, this was the sort of thing that I was looking to do and looking to help.
Christopher Riano: Well, you know, thank you again assemblymember. This has been great. We so enjoyed hearing from you about this bill and this issue and it was great to have you as a guest. We do hope to have you again. Is there any closing thoughts that you have to share with our listeners?
Alex Bores: Chris, I think you'd agree with this, I would say, please reach out when you're having an issue. This came from hearing from my neighbors and hearing from friends and hearing from constituents and hearing from restaurant owners, right? And so if there's something going on in your life and your business and, you know, you might not know exactly how to craft a bill. You don't have to. That's our job, right? If you bring a bill, even better. But I love hearing about what people's experiences are. And if there's something that the state is doing that's getting in the way, let's find a way to fix that. If there's some new business practice like this one that's spun up that is just taking advantage of everyone, let's find a way limit it. I would just really encourage everyone to reach out to their state assemblymember, reach out their state senator. My phone line, my email, my door is always open. The best ideas come from people saying, "Hey, here's something that I'm experiencing in my life."
Kristina Merritt: Thank you, and with that we will wrap things up for this episode of our podcast. If any of our listeners have ideas for an episode or if you might want to be a guest, we would love to hear from you. Our guest today has been Assemblymember Alex Bores of New York's 73rd District. Thank you.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
