Legislature Ready to End Restaurant Food-Drink Rule

At least one restaurant owner in Huntington is celebrating what is expected to be the end of a Covid-19 rule that required patrons to buy food if they wanted a drink.

The rule, imposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last summer, was meant to limit mingling and the spread of the virus by keeping people at their tables. As the epidemc slows, however, the state Legislature is ready to vote Wednesday to lift the rule, one of more than 100 issued under emergency powers Cuomo was granted last year.
 
“As more New Yorkers continue to get vaccinated, and our infection rates continue to decline, it is time to begin removing certain restrictions and regulations that are no longer necessary, so we can safely reopen and rebuild our state’s economy,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said. 
 

Daniel Pedisich, owner of Konoba Restaurant , on Gerard Street, met the technical requirements of the law by offering what he called the Cuomo Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, for $1. If Wednesday’s vote goes as planned, the rule will be lifted immediately smack in the middle of Long Island Restaurant Week.

He’s ready for the rule to go away.

“I am glad this rule is ending,” he said. “it has without a doubt cost us a lot of incremental business; many people like going for a drink after they eat dinner elsewhere in Huntington, and being forced to order food with a drink after they just ate a meal obviously makes them not want to do this. Hopefully this is a step to eliminating more restrictions, including the midnight curfew. We are looking forward to a good summer in the village, this certainly helps.”
 
 
 
 

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