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.
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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.