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

The Town of Southampton outside the villages permits bingo only because its Town Board adopted Chapter 117, Bingo, exercising the local-option authority under Article 14-H of the General Municipal Law. Southampton Town Code § 117-1 states the authorization plainly: the conduct of bingo games is authorized in the Town, a step GML Article 14-H requires every municipality to take on its own before any bingo license can issue locally. Chapter 117 was adopted in its entirety by L.L. No. 19-1990 on July 10, 1990, replacing the original 1979 Code chapter.

Section 117-2 removes the old blue-law restriction, permitting bingo to be conducted under any license on the first day of the week, commonly known as Sunday. Enforcement runs through the license itself: § 117-3 makes any violation of Chapter 117, of GML Article 14-H, or of a license's own terms a misdemeanor. A conviction carries two consequences beyond the criminal penalty: forfeiture of the license already held, and a one-year bar on applying for a new one, both imposed pursuant to § 495 of the General Municipal Law.

Actual licensing procedure, bonding and prize limits run through the state scheme under GML Article 14-H, administered locally through the Town Clerk's office for organizations operating in the unincorporated hamlets; the incorporated villages inside the Town, including Southampton Village, license bingo under their own separately adopted codes, so this chapter does not reach them.