COVID-19: NYC Quote of the Day 2020-07-16

Thursday, July 16, 2020, NYS Gov. Cuomo - Restaurants: Three Strikes and You're Closed

New York City, we have compliance issues and we're going to announce a couple of actions today. We have additional regulations on the bars and restaurants. That is a primary area where we're seeing problems with compliance and we're taking additional actions. As you know we've been stepping up enforcement on bars and restaurants. Bars and restaurants are licensed by the State Liquor Authority. New York City, we let bars and restaurants open for outdoor service on June 22. There is significant evidence of failure to comply. The State itself has looked at over 5,000 establishments in downstate New York and found many cases of a failure to comply. It's wrong. It's dangerous. It's selfish. It's unacceptable. It's also illegal, so today beginning in New York City we're going to enact a "three strikes and you're closed." Any establishment that receives three violations will be closed for business. Egregious violations can still result in an immediate loss of a liquor license but three violations and you're closed. We're also going to post the names of the establishments facing disciplinary charges. New Yorkers are outraged at these establishments. We're getting thousands of complains, pictures, videos, et cetera. This is a question of public health and New Yorkers paid a dear price for COVID and they are equally upset with these violations.

Also, today all establishments must only serve alcohol to people who are also ordering food. The concept here was bars and restaurants would be allowed to do outdoor dining. That is a dining situation. You go with several people, you sit at a table and you have a meal. That would limit the exposure to the people at that table and then the tables are socially distanced. That's if you're eating a meal - if you're not eating a meal and you're just drinking, then it's just an outdoor bar and people are mingling and they're not isolated at individual tables, and that's what we're seeing. Also, no walk-up bar service - all service at bar tops must be only for seated patrons who are socially distanced by six feet. So those regulations will go into effect.
Edited for redundancy, grammar, and emphasis
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