LIBATIONS TO GO OK BY GOV
Calls move to bring back pandemic favorite
ALBANY — Can I get it to go?
Gov. Hochul is confident New Yorkers will raise a glass to her plan to make to-go alcoholic beverages a regular revenue stream for bars and restaurants.
Takeout cocktails proved popular and provided a lifeline for many Empire State eateries during the height of the COVID crisis, prompting the governor to include a permanent proposal in her spending plan.
“Who would have thought that this would be the most popular item in my entire budget?” Hochul said during an event at the Therapy Wine Bar 2.0 in Brooklyn last week. “We’ve got all these great projects, but the one thing that went viral was to-go drinks. You gotta love New York, right?”
As budget negotiations get underway in Albany, the governor is pushing the plan, working to avoid any potential hiccups.
In 2020, as COVID restrictions shuttered restaurants and limited indoor dining, New York enacted a temporary to-go policy that allowed customers to buy takeout alcoholic drinks along with food purchases. The rule expired last June as an attempt to extend it failed to pass the Legislature.
Under the new policy proposed by the governor, food purchases would not be necessary, and open container laws would remain in effect, she said. Exactly what types of drinks or whether bottled wine would be available would be determined by the State Liquor Authority.
Restaurant owners have applauded the governor’s support.
“New York’s restaurant industry has been devastated by the pandemic,” said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. “That’s why ... it’s necessary to reinstate the popular drinks-to-go policy that provides struggling businesses an important revenue stream while giving New Yorkers what they want, which is wine and cocktails for takeout and delivery from their favorite restaurants and bars.”
However, the proposal faces opposition from some liquor store owners and merchant groups who say the changes could leave some hurting worse than a hangover.
Stefan Kalogridis, board president of the state liquor store association and owner of Colvin Wine Merchants in Albany, has said retailers want restrictions to prevent restaurants
from acting as de facto liquor stores.
The association initially supported bars offering cocktails and individual servings of wine, just not liquor bottles. But in a statement to Rochester’s WHAM last month, the group said it is “against bringing back takeout cocktails due to the issues it presented during the height of the pandemic.”
Some lawmakers are also wary of including policy proposals in the budget process this year after years of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo cramming unrelated items into the state’s spending plan.
The exact time line for the measure remains unclear as the April 1 budget deadline approaches and negotiations between the executive branch and the Legislature begin to ramp up in the coming weeks.
Hochul admitted that once the policy is approved, the State Liquor Authority will need to craft “very specific regulations” and said she would like public input from New Yorkers during the process.
Even if given the green light in the state spending plan, it’s uncertain when New Yorkers would again be allowed to buy takeout beverages. Hochul said time is of the essence as the state’s hospitality industry struggles to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
“We need to get back our mojo,” the governor said. “This is just one of several steps we are taking to help small businesses come back from the pandemic stronger than ever before.”
The governor is also proposing a $2 million increase in funding for the State Liquor Authority that would double the agency’s workforce and modernize and expedite the approval process for new liquor license applications.