No voluntary sale, assignment, or transfer of any license or of the rights thereby granted shall be made without the written approval of the department; nor become effective until the instrument of transfer be filed and recorded in the office of the clerk of each county in which property covered by the license is located. Notice thereof must be given to the department before possession is given under such transfer, and if there be a transfer by operation of law, the transferee must give notice thereof to the department before taking possession.
New York Legal Code