SERINO EFFORTS LEAD TO REPEAL OF ARBITRARY RULE IMPACTING BARS AND RESTAURANTS

ALBANY, NY – Thanks to the efforts of Senator Sue Serino and her colleagues, today the Legislature’s Supermajority is finally taking action to repeal some of the Governor’s most arbitrary Executive Orders, including the rule that requires the purchase of food with an alcoholic beverage.

Despite this step forward, the Governor announced today that the unscientific curfew placed only on bars and restaurants will not be repealed in full until the end of May. Senator Serino continues to urge the state to do right by these small businesses by lifting the arbitrary curfew.

“The voices of thousands of concerned New Yorkers were finally heard today when the Legislature heeded the calls of my colleagues and I to get rid of this non-scientific rule that only hurts our smallest neighborhood businesses,” said Senator Serino. “Having spent decades working in local restaurants, I know from experience how damaging it can be when out-of-touch bureaucrats create arbitrary rules without understanding the very real impact they have on employers and employees alike. While this is a step in the right direction, if we want to truly empower our businesses to safely reopen and fuel the rebuilding of our state, we have to fully repeal the Governor’s emergency pandemic powers and immediately repeal the random curfew that remains only on this industry.”

In March, the Legislature’s Supermajority passed watered down legislation they claimed would roll back the Governor’s Emergency Powers. Until today, the Supermajority had refused to take action to repeal even the Governor’s most arbitrary rules, and the Governor had continuously flaunted the new law, openly extending nearly all of his Executive Orders.

Senator Serino and her colleagues have actively pushed for a full repeal of the Governor’s pandemic powers, and have targeted these orders in particular. Senator Serino and her colleagues had introduced concurrent resolutions to rescind both (J541 and B477).

The Governor announced today that the 12:00am curfew on these businesses would be lifted for outdoor dining on May 17^th and for indoor dining on May 31^st.

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