Harckham/Byrne Pass Bill Allowing Carmel Distillery to Operate

(Albany, NY)  Senator Pete Harckham, 40th Senate District, and Assemblymember Kevin Byrne, 94th Assembly District, announced the passage of their bill that would allow a new distillery in Carmel to move forward with its plans to both manufacture alcoholic beverages as well as sell their product as a retailer. The distillery will be a economic boost for the town of Carmel and bring new tax revenue into Putnam County.

Senator Pete Harckham said,  “My goal is to make the 40th Senate District as business friendly as possible. We moved heaven and earth to introduce and pass this legislation, in record time, so that a new distillery, which wanted to open in Carmel, could proceed with their plans. Carmel will soon have a new business that brings new jobs to the area and new revenues to the town.”

Assemblymember Kevin Byrne said, I'm delighted to report that the legislation Senator Harckham and I introduced together has passed both in the Assembly and the Senate, allowing the pending distillery project in Carmel to occur under New York State law. Introducing and passing this type of legislation in less than three weeks is essentially unheard of in Albany - and we got it done.  It’s part of our job as legislators to partner with our colleagues in local and county government to encourage economic growth and job creation. Alexandrion’s investment in Carmel has the potential to bring in over a hundred quality jobs to the area, and ease the tax burden on residents of Putnam County, the Town of Carmel, and the Carmel Central School District. With the 94th Assembly District facing the loss of nearly one hundred jobs from the pending closure of Indian Point, this project will provide a significant boost to our local economy, tourism sector, and tax base. 

I would like to thank Senator Harckham, Assemblywoman Sandy Galef for co-sponsoring the measure, as well as Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell and Carmel Town Supervisor Ken Schmitt for coming to together quickly to ensure this hurdle did not get in the way to prevent such a critical project from moving forward.

Ken Schmitt, Carmel Town Supervisor said, "I applaud Senator Harckham and Assemblymember Byrne for bringing this bill to the floor and getting it passed so quickly. The new distillery is the shot in the arm that we needed in Carmel for local economic development. It will be a real boost to our economy and the local merchants will all benefit."

Stelios Savva, CEO, Alexandrion said, "Alexandrion is sincerely thankful to Senator Harckham and Assemblyman Byrne for their efforts and support in pushing this bill through.  Thanks to the hard work of the Senate and Assembly we will be able to build the largest distillery on the east coast and employ over 100 New Yorkers. We look forward to many years of partnership."

New York State Senate District 40 includes parts of Northern Westchester (Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Peekskill, Pleasantville, Pound Ridge, Sleepy Hollow, Somers, Yorktown) Putnam (Brewster, Carmel, Patterson, Southeast) and Dutchess (Beekman, Pawling).