REGION — Local restaurants, bars and other establishments are pivoting again after the expiration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s emergency executive orders last month which canceled the popular cocktail-to-go program for bars and restaurants, and shuttered online direct-to-consumer sales by distilleries.

“The whole thing went down with no warning,” Greg Boehm said.

Boehm is the Founder & CEO of Cocktail Kingdom Hospitality Group based in NYC. “It feels like a world that’s not geared to bars and restaurants.”

The executive orders, which were originally in place through July 5th, 2021, instead expired early on June 25th with little warning, giving many businesses less than 24 hours to adjust their business model right before July 4th weekend.

“When a business can’t plan it becomes a gamble and that’s what they’re forcing us to do,” says Ezekiel Miller.
Miller, the co-owner of the Cochecton Fire Station with Josiah Early, found out about the end of cocktails-to-go like many did watching the evening news on June 23rd.

The expiration has taken away a lifeline many restaurants were relying on amidst other reopening woes. Many restaurants, like other businesses, are having difficulty finding employees and balancing reopening fully and safely, despite the arrival of the Delta variant in all 50 States and continued pushback by some against COVID vaccinations.

The program was immensely popular across the state, and The New York State Restaurant Association published a survey in May finding that 78 percent of New York residents favor cocktails-to-go.

Craft distilleries were also impacted as the executive orders allowed them to ship their products directly to consumers via online orders which has allowed many to increase their market.

“Our sales are still down, tourism is down. Not everything returned,” said Brian Facquet.

Facquet is the Founder of Do Good Spirits in Roscoe and the president of the New York State Distillers Guild representing 160 craft distillers in every region of the state.

“We lost cocktails-to-go and a lot of our sales were direct-to-consumer. Some people lost 40 to 50 percent of their sales,” he said.

Loss of Cocktails-to-Go
“The thing that sticks in everyone’s craw is the idea our business model could switch in 24 hours,” Josiah Early said. “If any other industry was given 24 hours to change their business model they’d be up in arms.”

In order to survive last year, and keep their employees employed, many restaurants and bars invested a lot of money and time into “to-go” models with everything from take-out containers, cups and bottles, to new storage units, shelving and increased freezer space.

The change in rules meant making even more investments and scrambling for different supplies all right before 4th of July weekend. In the Cochecton Fire Station’s case, they had to increase outdoor seating by sacrificing parking spaces. They also built a new outdoor bar while the price of lumber being sky high.
“It’s not a switch you just flip,” Miller said. “I’ve spent a year and a half turning it into a health department approved take out facility.”

The Cochecton Fire Station is remaining outdoor service only for now, out of respect for their customers, many of which are families with young children who are unable to get vaccinated yet. Early knows the struggle with a young daughter under the vaccination age.

With the new Delta variant of Covid-19 as a concern, Early and Miller want to decide for themselves and their customers when they open inside. While New York State has reached 70 percent herd immunity, Sullivan County is currently cited on state websites as having only 60.2 percent of 18+ population fully vaccinated.
“We’ve earned that right. We’ve followed every mandate since day one,” Early said.

Shuttering of Direct-to-Consumer Sales
While distilleries also benefitted from cocktails-to-go through their respective tasting rooms, the expiration of the executive orders also took away their ability to sell their own product to a wider market.

During the pandemic, Governor Cuomo’s executive orders allowed local distilleries and manufacturers to sell their products online and reach a larger market across the state. This direct to consumer approach is common for wineries and retailers, but was a new method for small batch manufacturers as they were previously not allowed to utilize it.

“The direct-to-consumer shipping with New York State was something that could save our industry,” Facquet said. And with the expiration of the executive orders, distilleries across the state had to close down their online stores. “We had to stop our websites, turn off our e-commerce sites, and stop all online marketing.”
The direct to consumer approach offered small batch distilleries, which normally have strong local sales but little retail representation in other areas of the state, to expand their customer base and keep their business alive during the pandemic.

“Direct-to-consumer creates jobs, it creates business…it supports agriculture. What’s the downside here?” Facquet said. “The only ones complaining were the retailers. We proved we can do it, and we have no support in continuing it.”

While there were bills proposed in the NYS Legislature to continue both the cocktails-to-go and direct-to-consumer options, neither were voted on before the session ended or reviewed by the New York State Economic Development Council, according to Facquet.

What can the public do?
“The flippancy of it shows how little the elected officials care, and that they’re not hearing from their constituents,” Miller said.

Early, Miller and Facquet all said there is bipartisan support for the continuation of these programs from numerous elected officials including Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, State Senator Mike Martucci, and State Senator James Skoufis, but with the legislature out of session nothing can be worked on until next year without an emergency session being called.

“I want consumers to know they can make a difference,” Facquet said. Facquet urges the public to call up their state representatives to express their support for these programs and demand action. “The consumers get what the consumers want.”

“The public needs to be wary,” Early said. “There is no room left for any aspect of the restaurant industry to take a hit.”