Overly aggressive
Assembly members say SLA , Cuomo “overly aggressive”
Leaders concerned about impact of state rules on restaurants, bars.
Assembly members Pat Fahy and John Mcdonald, Democrats who represent districts in and around Albany, believe the State Liquor Authority and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been overly aggressive in their enforcement of pandemic-related health and safety regulations imposed on New York’s restaurants and bars.
While acknowledging that “yeoman’s work” has been done by citizens and government to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the state, where the recent average for positive tests for exposure to the virus continues to be less than 1 percent, and 0.5 percent locally, Fahy and Mcdonald said they believe the zealousness of the Sla-led task force is unwarranted.
“We have to let up on the gotcha mentality,” Fahy said Tuesday morning during a roundtable at Yono’s/ dp: An American Brasserie in Albany with Mcdonald, local restaurateurs and representatives of the Central Avenue, downtown and Lark Street Business Improvement Districts.
For weeks a multiagency task force of state investigators and other employees has been making thousands of compliance checks per week at bars and restaurants, consistently turning up violations at a fraction of businesses licensed to sell alcohol. Almost all of the violations are for coronavirus-related requirements, including that restaurant and bar staff wear masks at all times, customers be masked except when seated, food be ordered along with initial alcohol orders, and separate groups, limited to a maximum of 10, be at least 6 feet apart if dividers are not in use.
While compliance checks have resulted in more than 1,000 citations issued for lesser violations and about 200 liquor licenses have been temporarily suspended for more flagrant failures to enforce current regulations, such violations consistently have been found at a tiny number of the places visited. According to the governor’s office, nearly 6,000 investigator visits during the last week of August, for example, produced 35 violations, or 0.5 percent; last week’s 1,585 checks resulted in seven citations, or 0.4 percent.
On the one hand, Fahy and Mcdonald said, this is encouraging news, in that it shows nearly every bar and restaurant, and their customers, are following the rules. However, the officials said, thousands of weekly checks on businesses that are obeying the law consumes enforcement resources that would be better spent elsewhere in continuing to battle the spread of the coronavirus.
Citing large, alcoholfueled public gatherings where rules about masks and physical distancing are ignored, Mcdonald said, “That’s not happening in decent restaurants or bars; it’s happening out in the community. Focus on that; hold people accountable for that. But don’t take it out of the hide of restaurants.”
Fahy said, “(Is) there always going to be, you know, somebody who takes advantage? ... Of course. But when you only have a 1 percent ... of those (investigated) who are in violation, I think that maybe let’s put some of those enforcement things into our colleges or where we are seeing other problems.”
Fahy and Mcdonald reiterated some of the points they made during a similar event Monday, held at Hattie’s Restaurant in Saratoga Springs with Assembly colleague Carrier Woerner and Spa City restaurateurs.
The legislators are among those urging the governor to increase indoor dining-room capacity to 75 percent upstate, an increase from the current 50 percent, to offset lost revenue as fewer people dine outdoors as the weather cools.
They are also seeking to have the state allow private catered events such as weddings to have larger capacities than the 50-person cap currently allowed, as long as physical distancing, masks and other safety protocols are maintained. Further, they would like the state to allow for a twoyear continuation of to-go alcohol orders, which at present are being extended monthly, and a 15 percent cap per order on fees charged to restaurants by delivery services including Doordash and Hubhub. Those fees now can reach 30 percent or higher.
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