New Rochelle, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Adult Entertainment (2026)

City Code § 331-112 sets four hard buffers before an adult-oriented business can locate anywhere in New Rochelle: no building housing one may sit within 400 feet of another such building, within 400 feet of a zoning district permitting residential dwellings as a principal use, or within 400 feet of the property line of a school, house of worship, public park, public recreation facility, public community center, public library, or designated urban renewal area. Where a mixed-use or commercial/industrial boundary abuts a public road or railroad, that road or railroad is counted as part of the 400-foot measurement rather than excluded.

Size is separately capped at 5,000 square feet of gross floor area, and no such business may operate in a building where the majority of floor area is residential use, even a nonconforming residential use. Only one adult-oriented activity is allowed per building or per lot. Entry is restricted to persons 18 and older, and live nude entertainment that is lewd, indecent or grossly sexual is prohibited, though the section carves out constitutionally protected expressive nudity that is not a pretext for exploitation. Beyond the use restrictions, no such business may open without a Planning Board special use permit, which under subsection I is valid for three years and can be recertified for additional three-year terms if the permittee shows continued compliance with the permit, the Zoning Code and all other applicable law; the Planning Board can deny recertification and force the business to close when the current term lapses.

Assignment of the permit to a new owner also requires Planning Board approval. Signage is separately restricted: no neon or flashing illumination, no nude or provocative exterior displays, interior nude displays must sit at least four feet from any window and stay invisible from outside, total visible signage is capped at 100 square feet (no more than 50 illuminated non-flashing), and window/door signage cannot exceed 20% of any window or door.