Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced at a press briefing today that New York State will end the Temporary Disaster Emergency established to respond to the COVID-19 crisis by Executive Order 202 and subsequent Executive Orders, effective tomorrow, June 24th. This will end the suspensions and modifications of law, and all directives contained in the Executive…

Governor Cuomo announced that the State hit the 70% vaccination rate threshold this week and most of the public health restrictions are now lifted, including all of the restrictions on restaurants and taverns. While the Department of Health continues to recommend social distancing and mask wearing in certain indoor situations, you no longer have to…

The Assembly and Senate completed their planned work for the year this week without passing legislation to extend or make permanent your privilege to sell alcohol to go. While the Governor has extended it by Executive Order until July 5th it’s unclear how much longer he can do this. The Legislature bought into the disinformation…

Empire State Development has announced that the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program, which was created to provide flexible grant assistance to currently viable small businesses, micro-businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations in New York that have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now open. The…

Creation of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) was great news, but for too many owners the $28.6 billion in funding ran out before they could receive any disaster funding. The SBA estimates that they need at least an additional $50 billion just to fund the applications submitted before the application portal was closed. The RRF…

Governor Cuomo announced today that we have reached the 70% vaccination rate statewide and most restrictions, including those on food services, are lifted effective immediately. This includes social gathering limits, capacity restrictions, social distancing, health screening, cleaning and disinfection protocols, and contact information for tracing.

The Assembly and Senate completed their planned work for the year this week without passing legislation to extend or make permanent your privilege to sell alcohol to go. While the Governor has extended it by Executive Order until July 5th it’s unclear how much longer he can do this. The Legislature bought into the disinformation…

Empire State Development announced today that the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program, which was created to provide flexible grant assistance to currently viable small businesses, micro-businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations in New York that have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now open. The…

Governor Cuomo has extended your ability to sell cocktails to go for another 30 days. This is good news for restaurants and taverns throughout New York State, but with the State of Emergency certain to be coming to an end soon, this could be the last extension of cocktails to go. Legislation to extend this…

The curfew on indoor dining is lifted effective today. Starting tonight you can revert to your SLA approved hours of operation which, for most licensees, means the legal hours of sale in your county. Any restrictions on hours of operation imposed as part of your licensing process (not a COVID related penalty) remain in place.…

As we expected, the applications received by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) have exceeded the $28.6 billion funding available. The RRF portal received more than 372,000 applications seeking $76 billion before the SBA closed the application portal this week. It’s clear that there will be significant demand that cannot…

The fight over extending alcohol is fully engaged. The liquor store lobby continues to tell tall tales about the bill and your business, but this article in the Albany Times Union sets the record straight.