Bloomberg’s departure as mayor hasn’t made New York nannyism any less lame:
Essentially, according to the [NYC Hospitality] Alliance, restauranteurs are prohibited from “selling, serving, delivering or offering to patrons an unlimited number of drinks during any set period of time for a fixed price.” And yes, this law also includes your favorite club’s ladies night where the drink specials let you party off all those TPS reports you filed so someone else could throw them away. Club drink specials are breaking the law too, and I’m guessing this will ruin all New Year’s Eve party planning. How else will restaurants entice us to hunker down with them for four hours? Boo.
Apparently the only drink specials that are legal are two-for-ones and discounts that aren’t more than half price. So, bring your flask to brunch ladies, because Eater thinks a crackdown is on the horizon and shit’s about to get real.
Update from a reader:
That post is totally misleading. First of all, this isn’t a new law, it is in the news because a NYC hospitality industry group has brought attention to an existing law that isn’t being enforced, but could possibly be enforced if the city/state wanted to.
Second of all, it’s astate law through the NYS Liquor Authority (SLA), not something done at the city-level like Bloomberg’s bans on large sodas. Finally, even if enforced, this puts New York State at about the middle of the pack in terms of state-level happy hour laws. According to this summary of happy hour laws (which may be somewhat dated), over half of U.S. states have some kind of ban on happy hour promotions. Of those that do, New York is among the most permissive states, with Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia as some of the most restrictive states.
Don’t get me wrong; enforcing the ban on unlimited drinks in NYC would totally ruin my favorite way to waste a weekend afternoon, but let’s be clear about who is really responsible for these rules and hope that they go on unenforced.
The Dish 