New York Has Outlawed “Restaurant Reservation Piracy”

Veuer

On Thursday, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill outlawing “third-party restaurant reservation services from arranging unauthorized reservations.” Veuer’s Matt Hoffman reports.

Transcript

00:00New York is taking aim at a new kind of crime, restaurant reservation piracy.

00:05On Thursday, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act,

00:10which, according to a statement on Hochul's website,

00:12prohibits third-party restaurant reservation services from arranging unauthorized reservations.

00:17The New York Times reports that prior to the bill's signing,

00:20reservations for prestigious restaurants like Carbone were being sold for hundreds of dollars

00:25prior to any payment for the actual food or service.

00:28Hochul said,

00:29We're putting an end to the predatory black market for restaurant reservations,

00:32protecting consumers and businesses,

00:34and giving everyone a chance to get a seat at the dinner table.

00:37New York is home to some of the best restaurants in the world,

00:40and whether you're returning to your favorite local spot

00:42or trying out the latest in fine dining,

00:44you deserve a fair system.

00:46According to Business Insider,

00:47the law would not affect services like Resy,

00:49which work with the authorization of restaurants.

00:52The new law seems to have the support of the hospitality industry.

00:55New York State Restaurant Association President and CEO Melissa Fleischer said that

00:59reservation scalping, particularly by AI bots,

01:02has led to increasing no-show rates at many establishments,

01:05which has a cascading impact on restaurants.

01:08Of course, not everyone is happy about the legislation.

01:10Eater reports that the reservation black market emerged from social media groups

01:14where people would trade non-refundable reservations,

01:16for instance, if the original booker had gotten COVID.

01:19Jonas Frey founded the reservation sales website Appointment Trader.

01:23He told Business Insider,

01:24if Appointment Trader were to shut down tomorrow in New York City,

01:27no one that doesn't have a relationship or doesn't want to prepay $1,000

01:31would be able to go to Carbone or 4 Charles Prime Rib,

01:34or Tatiana for that matter.

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