(Pexels)
July 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New York bars and restaurants can no longer serve customers alcohol if they don’t purchase food, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.
The new rule was one of multiple Cuomo introduced yesterday that aim to crack down on bars and restaurants where social distancing violations have been common.
Another new rule is that walk-up bar service is not longer permitted. Establishments must have seats at every table or bartop to prevent patrons from standing around and lingering with less than six feet between them, he said.
The governor said that when outdoor dining reopened in New York City on June 22, it was meant to be for sit-down dining only. Open air bars was not part of that plan.
“If you’re not eating a meal and you’re just drinking, then it’s just an outdoor bar and people are mingling and they’re not isolated,” Cuomo said. “And that’s what we’re seeing.”
Outdoor dining at a seated table limits people’s exposure to just those within their party, he added.
Cuomo also announced a ‘Three Strikes and You’re Closed’ initiative in which any establishment that receives three violations will be closed down. The initiative is specific only to New York City, where Cuomo said compliance to coronavirus prevention rules has been low.
“The State itself has looked at over 5,000 establishments in downstate New York and found many cases of a failure to comply,” he said. “It’s wrong. It’s dangerous. It’s selfish. It’s unacceptable.”
The State Liquor Authority (SLA), as well as local governments, will enforce the requirements, which go into effect Friday. The SLA will also post establishments in violation online for the public to see.
Featured Events
8 Comments
On Astoria side streets are private homes, people pay highreal estate taxes, want quiet, safe nights, instead have people in main streets enjoying liquor block parties for example 30th Ave, 23rd Ave and Broadway in Astoria at night are wild, crowded, many walking in the streets do not live in Astoria, holding booze, No masks, no social distancing, late like it’s a block party, home owners suffering noise, police crowd control needed last night in Astoria????? You don’t want to walk home from train station and have to pass outside one of these bars, worse than Williamsburg Brooklyn used to be, Astoria became party land, not fair to high tax paying side street homeowners who have no peace and feel like their residential area is now a block party every night until it snows
bring back the Raines Sandwich
NEAR THE END OF THE 19th century, New Yorkers out for a drink partook in one of the more unusual rituals in the annals of hospitality. When they ordered an ale or whisky, the waiter or bartender would bring it out with a sandwich. Generally speaking, the sandwich was not edible. It was “an old desiccated ruin of dust-laden bread and mummified ham or cheese,” wrote the playwright Eugene O’Neill. Other times it was made of rubber. Bar staff would commonly take the sandwich back seconds after it had arrived, pair it with the next beverage order, and whisk it over to another patron’s table. Some sandwiches were kept in circulation for a week or more.
Bar owners insisted on this bizarre charade to avoid breaking the law—specifically, the excise law of 1896, which restricted how and when drinks could be served in New York State. The so-called Raines Law was a combination of good intentions, unstated prejudices, and unforeseen consequences, among them the comically unsavory Raines sandwich.
What does he care about the finances or lack there of other people’s money. He is still getting over paid for the job he has.
Another dig at the small business owners. When will people realize these democrats are not for the people, just control.
Are you people listening yet?
Cuomo is a fascist. They are coming to eat out our substance.
How does this impact local breweries that don’t serve food?
Home owners on the side streets have to deal with the nightly mayhem, noise, vomit and garbage filled streets. Residential areas are now just blocks and blocks of outdoor bars and they are patronized by folks who don’t live round here. We wanted to go to Key Food for a few staples and all hell was breaking loose on 30th Avenue in Astoria with party animals running through the streets with no masks so we turned back, local bars are making the money and we have to find another place to move with all these mobs, it sucks, it used to be home, no more.
Are potato chips or ice cubes considered food?