(Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Kathy Hochul wants the Empire State to keep the party going on -- indoors, outdoors and on the sidewalks.
The governor on Wednesday asked lawmakers to permanently legalize the sale of to-go alcoholic drinks to keep bars and restaurants afloat.
“Cheers to Governor Hochul,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said in a statement.
From the onset of the pandemic until June, New York's hard-pressed drinking establishments were able to mimic their counterparts in New Orleans, where an industry sprang up years ago to provide revelers with daiquiris and other fluorescent concoctions to sip as they stroll.
“To-go drinks were a critical revenue stream for New York's bars and restaurants during the pandemic, helping many small businesses across the state pay their rents or mortgages,” Hochul said in a briefing that accompanied her State of the State speech.
But New York's climate poses challenges that don't exist in the balmy Crescent City, where February's Mardi Gras happens in prime drinking weather. Hochul is aware of the problem: She also proposed a tax credit for establishments that purchase outdoor heaters.
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