The Covid rule that New York bars criticized is finally gone, capping 10 months of the establishments being forced to serve food with alcohol purchases. According to The New York Times, the state legislature has moved to suspend Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s directive, which was originally imposed last July.
At the time, the governor said it was an attempt to keep patrons seated at tables and reduce mingling. However, the bar and restaurant industry called it arbitrary and economically harmful to bars that weren’t used to serving food.
The rule became the butt of jokes since it started, as many bars complied by doing the bare minimum like serving “Cuomo chips” and “Cuomoritos” (a $1 bag of Doritos). Others recently began to ignore the directive altogether.
The rule’s repeal will go into effect once it passes both legislative chambers, which is likely to happen this week.