New York's restaurant reservation resale law, explained
The Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, in plain words, with the bill text cited. Not legal advice.
- Signed December 19, 2024
- Bill S9365-A, cited
- What it says
- A third-party service may not list, advertise, promote or sell a restaurant's reservations without a written agreement with that restaurant.
- Who it binds
- Websites and apps not owned by the restaurant. Channels the restaurant authorised by contract are excluded.
- Penalty
- Up to $1,000 per violation, accruing daily for each restaurant involved.
- Alerts
- The Act does not mention alerts. An alert tool tells you a table is open; you book it yourself.
What the Act says
New York's Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act is Senate bill S9365-A and Assembly bill A10215-A. Governor Hochul signed it on December 19, 2024, as Chapter 601 of the Laws of 2024. It adds a new section, 391-w, to the General Business Law.
The core rule is one sentence. A third-party restaurant reservation service "shall not list, advertise, promote, or sell reservations" for a restaurant through its own website or app "without a written agreement" with that restaurant, covering reservations on that platform.
In plain words: a site or app that the restaurant does not own cannot put the restaurant's reservations up unless the restaurant has agreed, in writing, that it may.
Who it binds
The bill defines a third-party restaurant reservation service as any website, mobile application or other internet service that offers or arranges reservations for a customer at a restaurant and is owned and operated by someone other than the restaurant's owner.
It excludes reservation distribution channels that are authorised to distribute reservations by a contract with the restaurant or with a designee that obtained those rights directly from the restaurant.
The penalty clause is wider: it reaches any person who violates the section, or causes another person to violate it.
Penalties and timing
The civil penalty "shall not exceed one thousand dollars for each violation." For third-party services, violations accrue daily, for each day and for each restaurant involved. A proceeding may be brought within any state agency designated to conduct such proceedings.
The Act takes effect on the sixtieth day after it became law. Counting from December 19, 2024, that is February 17, 2025, the date a law firm's summary also gives.
That summary also describes damages claims by diners and restaurants. The printed S9365-A does not show them, so read the enacted text before relying on that.
What the Act does not mention
The Act as printed regulates services. It does not mention a diner who books on their own account, cancels under the restaurant's policy, calls the restaurant, joins a platform's own waitlist or walks in.
A law firm's summary reads it as aimed at listing or selling without the restaurant's authorisation, not at reselling as such. Resy, for one, describes its Notify as a virtual wait list that alerts you when a table opens.
Whether a particular arrangement falls inside the Act is a legal question. We do not judge any company, and this page is not legal advice.
What alerts are, and where they stand
An alert tool watches a public booking page and tells you when a table is open. You then book it yourself, on the restaurant's own platform, in your own name.
The bill as printed does not use the word alert. It is written about services that list, advertise, promote or sell reservations.
Table Alert is an alert service. We never book, hold or resell a table.
Read it yourself
We read the Senate print S9365-A, not the chaptered text (Chapter 601 of the Laws of 2024), which may differ.
The bill is two pages. Read the Senate text and the governor's release, linked below, and ask a lawyer about your own case.
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FAQ
New York's restaurant reservation resale law, explained: questions people ask
The Act bars a third-party service from listing or selling a restaurant's reservations without a written agreement with that restaurant. It is written about services and does not mention a person giving up their own booking. This is not legal advice.
On the sixtieth day after it became law. Governor Hochul signed it on December 19, 2024, which makes the date February 17, 2025, matching a law firm's summary.
A civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation. For third-party services, violations accrue daily for each restaurant involved. A designated state agency may bring the proceeding.
The bill as printed does not mention alerts. It is written about services that list, advertise, promote or sell reservations. An alert tells you a table is open; you book it yourself. Whether any service is inside the Act is a legal question.
The Act excludes channels a restaurant authorises by contract to distribute its reservations. We do not judge which services fall inside; read the definition in the bill and ask a lawyer.
No. Table Alert alerts you, with a link, when a table opens, and you book it yourself. We never book, hold or resell tables.
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Sources and how this page is made
Written by Jacob, founder of Table Alert. Facts checked against the sources below on November 12, 2026. The monitoring numbers are Table Alert's own, refreshed every night. Out of date? Tell us.
- New York State Senate: S9365-A, the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act (bill, Chapter 601 of 2024)
- New York State Senate: S9365-A printed text (PDF)
- Governor Hochul signs the legislation (December 19, 2024)
- Holland & Knight: New York curbs scalping of restaurant reservations (February 2025)
- Resy: how to snag hard-to-get tables with Notify
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