In the Matter of Town of Islip v. Frank Caviglia, Doing Business as Happy Hour Bookstore

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division’s order upholding the Town of Islip’s zoning ordinance that restricts adult bookstores and other adult uses to Industrial I districts and phases out nonconforming uses, finding the ordinance constitutionally valid under both the Federal and New York State Constitutions. The Court held the ordinance is a permissible content‑neutral time, place and manner regulation that is narrowly tailored to serve a substantial governmental interest and is no broader than necessary, and rejected the respondents’ vagueness and overbreadth challenges. Separate dissenting opinions argue the ordinance is content‑based and should be struck down.