N.Y. ABC Law § 153

§ 153. Stills and distilling apparatus. Any person who shall\nmanufacture any illicit alcoholic beverage or who, not being duly\nlicensed as a distiller under the provisions of the alcoholic beverage\ncontrol law, shall own, operate, possesses or have under his control any\nstill or distilling apparatus is guilty of a felony. "Still" or "\ndistilling apparatus" shall mean any apparatus designed, intended,\nactually used, or capable of being used for or in connection with the\nseparating of alcoholic or spirituous vapors, or alcohol or spirituous\nsolutions, or alcohol or spirits, from alcohol or spirituous solutions\nor mixtures, but shall not include stills used for laboratory purposes\nor stills used for distilling water or other nonalcoholic materials\nwhere the cubic capacity of such stills is one gallon or less.\n Provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful for any person to\nown, possess or have under his control any still or distilling apparatus\n(a) where the same has been duly registered in compliance with or has\notherwise complied with the provisions of federal law and regulations\nissued pursuant thereto, or (b) where the same is not required to be\nregistered under federal law, or (c) where the same is in the possession\nof a duly qualified manufacturer of stills under federal law.\n The unlawful ownership, operation, possession, control or use of any\nstill or distilling apparatus or illicit alcoholic beverage is a\nnuisance, and each such still and distilling apparatus and illicit\nalcoholic beverage is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and when any\nsuch still or distilling apparatus or illicit alcoholic beverage shall\nbe taken from the possession of any person, the same shall be\nsurrendered and forfeited to the sheriff of the county wherein the same\nshall be taken, except that in a city having a population of\nseventy-five thousand or more, the same shall be surrendered and\nforfeited to the police commissioner or other head of the police force\nor department of said city and except that in the county of Nassau, the\nsame shall be surrendered and forfeited to the commissioner of the\ncounty police department.\n