Schenectady, NY Gambling & Gaming: Charitable Bingo and Raffles (2026)

Rather than leaving charitable bingo entirely to the state, Schenectady adopted its own administrative scheme under Chapter 135, Article I, exercising the local option available under General Municipal Law Article 14-H. Section 135-1 delegates to the City Clerk the authority the Council otherwise holds over issuing, amending, and canceling bingo licenses, investigating and holding hearings, supervising game operations, and collecting license fees, but the Clerk's issuance of a bingo license still requires the Mayor's approval. A license can cover bingo play on any day of the week, including Sunday.

The City also created its own enforcement position: § 135-2 establishes a Municipal Bingo Inspector within the Department of the City Clerk, with duties drawn from Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law plus any others the Mayor or Council assigns. Section 135-3 restricts who can run a game at all, limiting bingo to organizations licensed under Article 14-H, and bars leasing a hall for bingo for any consideration to anyone else. The City also fixes its own dollar limits in § 135-7: no single game of bingo may award a prize exceeding $250, and the aggregate of all prizes awarded on one bingo occasion cannot exceed $1,000.

Only bona fide members of the sponsoring organization may manage or operate the game under § 135-8, and nobody may be paid to do so under § 135-9. A companion local law, Article II's Games of Chance Licensing Law adopted in 1981, separately licenses raffles and merchandise wheels through the same City Clerk and the State Racing and Wagering Board.