Still said he will get a maximum of two or three customers a week who ask for to-go drinks but overall he said it’s not that common. “We’d rather have people in here starting tabs,” said Josh Still, a bartender at Maiden Lane in Alphabet City. This led to the rise of Cuomo Sandwiches and other sly methods that bars - especially those who never had a kitchen - worked around that requirement. In 20, after Cuomo also added a “substantial food” rule, bars and restaurants famously got creative. Open-container tickets surged this year under Mayor Adams, with the NYPD writing 10,000 summonses over the past year, according to the New York Post - more than the previous four years combined (an open container ticket fine is still only $25, just FYI). You still cannot legally drink in public, and Mayor Eric Adams has been increasing enforcement of that since he took office. “I don’t think you can still get that,” a lightly confused employee told me this week. Except Lucien doesn’t offer to-go drinks either. In theory, this should mean you could get dinner at a hot spot like Lucien in the East Village, and then take a cocktail or wine with you back to your apartment or to your next destination. What kind of seal, exactly, is not listed. The law also says that obvious efforts to get around the law aren’t allowed either: an “unreasonably” small portion of soup, a serving of canned beans (I was actually served this with a to-go drink at a bar in Bed-Stuy in summer 2020), a handful of lettuce or just charging extra on a cocktail to pretend food was served.Īlcoholic beverages must also be packaged in a container with a secure lid or cap “sealed in a manner designed to prevent consumption without removal of the lid or cap by breaking the seal. The state released a specific list of what counts as “ substantial": sandwiches, soups, salads, wings and hot dogs (which are listed separately from sandwiches here, if you care about that debate) things that are not “substantial” include a bag of chips, a bowl of nuts or candy. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: a bar or restaurant in New York City is legally allowed to serve you a to-go drink if you dine in or order take out, but only if you order a “substantial food item” first. The state officially adopted a version of it in April 2022. “We’re also going to do something bars and restaurants have been asking for: to once again allow the sale of to-go drinks – a critical revenue stream during the lean times last year,” she said in that speech. She touted that promise in her first State of the State address that year. Hochul, who took over the governor’s seat after everyone decided it was time for Cuomo to-go, made the pledge part of her reelection campaign in 2022. Excitement was high that the city was entering its New Yorleans era, matching our pandemic-borne appreciation of outdoor activities and a good daily walk with more liberal, European-style open container laws. Governor Kathy Hochul pledged to bring to-go drinks back when she took office. One bar owner told the Times he had heard of no problems caused by the program. This rankled many restaurant and bar owners, who had stockpiled to-go drink supplies or batched cocktails for months to come, according to the New York Times. Andrew Cuomo abruptly ended the program in June 2021 when he declared an end to the COVID state of emergency. To-go drinks debuted in spring 2020 as a way to help restaurants survive the COVID shutdown, and help New Yorkers stay sane while nothing else was open. “I don’t think you’re going to see the return to that kind of wholesale, walk down the street to grab to-go drinks, walk on Bedford Avenue with a cocktail, thing.” “I don’t even know the rules right now, to be honest,” Dave Rosen, co-founder of Brooklyn Allied Bars & Restaurants, who also helps run several bars, told The Groove. The idea was wildly popular, and some hoped the pandemic would make the option permanent in a way that would reshape the city, much like open streets or the outdoor dining programs did. During the dark days of the pandemic, New Yorkers saw the chance to grab a to-go drink (or “ walktail,” if you like) as a rare bright spot. Complicated rules, food requirements and lackluster awareness have resulted in sparse opportunities for New Yorkers to snag a cocktail or beer to-go while walking around this summer.īartenders in the city say they just don’t want to bother with serving to-go drinks, and several restaurants said they didn’t know to-go drinks were still legal at all. New York state’s attempt to permanently legalize to-go drinks after the pandemic has been a dud. Turning the Big Apple into the Big Easy wasn’t so easy after all. “I don’t even know the rules right now, to be honest,” one industry insider said.
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