The Home Processing Permit in NY is handled by the Dept of Ag & Mkts and is good throughout all of New York. It's a rather quirky law and a bit hard to understand the specifics so start with the above link and if you need more help call your regional office listed on that page.

I know a legal Home Processor who lives in Nassau County, so I'm not sure why kpny was told to use a commercial kitchen; but it's probably related to either the kinds of products s/he wants to process, the listed sales venues, or the zoning law specific to their township within Nassau County.

I just read your cake post in another thread http://www.cakecentral.com/t/779560/3-tier-cake-for-150. Sorry, but custom cakes are not allowed under the Home Processor Permit in New York. If you want to legally sell these cakes, you would need to work from a commercial kitchen with the Article 20-C license. HTH

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thanks - I will look more closely into the rules.   I guess I just stopped at the heath departments page where they said : In no case will a permit be issued for a non-commercial [private] kitchen or residence in Nassau County. The provision of food to anyone outside your immediate family or circle of friends by definition would classify an operation as a catering service. The options would be to either buy or lease an existing business, construct one in owned or leased commercially zoned space, or sublease space from a foodservice operation currently under permit by the department.

It can be confusing! The health department (a county agency) will not allow any home food business. You need the state's Dept of Agriculture and Markets for the Home Processing permit. It's the link you posted above. There's a limit to what foods are allowed, but getting the permit is a good, cheap way to start up.