Restaurants and bars will be unable to offer more alcoholic beverages for take-out in NYC

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

The State Liquor Authority (NY SLA) stated yesterday that New York restaurants and bars would no longer be able to sell alcohol via take-out or home delivery beginning today.

Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order enabling consumers to buy alcoholic drinks to go or for home delivery as a move to assist bar and restaurant owners who were struggling financially due to COVID limitations and closures when the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing

According to the SLA, the termination of the state of emergency would entail a return to prior standards and the lifting of "temporary pandemic-related privileges," such as drinking on the go.

Cuomo declared an end to the state of emergency as New York continued to report a COVID positive rate well below 1% and a drop in hospitalizations.

The president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA), Melissa Fleischut, has called for a permanent extension of alcohol to go.

“While the lifting of the emergency order is a welcome milestone to the end of the pandemic, with it comes the sudden end to alcohol to-go. A permanent extension of alcohol-to-go is supported by 78% of New Yorkers, but the Legislature failed to extend it and now the executive order has ended,” Fleischut said.

Photo by Norma Mortenson from Pexels

“Only in New York would elected officials ignore an overwhelming majority of the public. Restaurants are struggling to find staff, keep up with rising costs and manage a limited supply of goods, and nearly two-thirds of the applicants will not receive Restaurant Relief Funds. New York State must do more to help, not hurt, our restaurant industry.”

Earlier in the day, New York Senate Republican Leader Robert Ortt praised Cuomo's decision to lift the State of Emergency, calling it "long overdue news."

“The progress we’ve made wouldn’t have been possible without thousands of front-line workers, business owners and everyday New Yorkers who sacrificed so much over the past year,” he said in a statement. “Now it is time for us to turn our undivided attention to the economic recovery and the rising crime wave devastating major metro areas all across the state.”

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