Restaurants will be able to resume selling drinks to go immediately, after the popular measure passed Thursday afternoon as part of the state budget.
“We’re legalizing to-go drinks,” Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted Thursday afternoon, “to support small businesses and because I know we could all use a drink!”
The once-temporary program is still not quite permanent, though: It will expire after three years.
The restaurant industry has been hoping for the return of to-go drinks ever since June of 2021, when a temporary pandemic measure that allowed them expired.
“When the pandemic shut down indoor dining, drinks to go provided a critical revenue stream to struggling restaurants,” said
→ Continue reading at Crain's New York Business
