Lily's Food Corp. v. New York State Liquor Authority

—Determination of respondent New York State Liquor Authority dated on or about March 5, 1999, revoking petitioner’s license and forfeiting its license bond in the sum of $1,000, unanimously confirmed, the petition denied and the proceeding, brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, New York County [William Wetzel, J.], entered May 5, 1999) dismissed, without costs.

Respondent authority’s finding that petitioner had ceased to operate its premises within the contemplation of its off-premises beer license was supported by substantial evidence, including testimony as to the quantity of beer on display in the store, and invoices of a wholesale beer distributor reflecting *264delivery of 243 cases of beer to petitioner in a one-month period, the value of which, at 50 cents a beer, exceeded 25 percent of the value of the total store inventory, the ceiling placed by respondent upon petitioner’s beer inventory as a condition of issuing petitioner’s off-premises beer license (see, Matter of Stork Rest, v Boland, 282 NY 256). Respondent, in promulgating the inventory requirement, did not exceed its powers since such requirement was neither irrational nor unreasonable (see, Matter of Best v New York State Liq. Auth., 59 NY2d 906, revg 89 AD2d 893 for reasons stated in dissenting mem of Lazer, J., at 893-894). Finally, the penalty imposed was not so disproportionate to the offense committed as to be “ ‘ “shocking to one’s sense of fairness” ’ ” (Matter of Pell v Board of Educ., 34 NY2d 222, 233). Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Nardelli, Mazzarelli, Wallach and Rubin, JJ.