Bushwick Liquors
photo via Google Maps

liquor stores considered "essential" businesses, allowed to stay open in NY

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo didn’t formally issue a shelter-in-place order, but he did sign an executive order on Friday afternoon requiring all employees at non-essential businesses to stay home from work, starting Sunday evening (3/22) at 8 PM. The actual list of essential businesses includes many obvious places, like grocery stores, hospitals, banks, and pharmacies; according to the NYS Liquor Store Association, it also includes liquor stores. Here’s more from them:

LIQUOR STORES HAVE BEEN DEEMED AN ESSENTIAL BUSINESS AND MAY REMAIN OPEN. YOU DO NOT NEED TO REDUCE YOUR WORKFORCE. THIS APPLIES TO ALL SLA LICENSED ENTITIES AS PER THE SLA. PLEASE CLICK HERE: https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026?

OR SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION:

liquor stores and the 3 -tier system are considered essential (see highlights below), we do not have to reduce our workforce, and we can remain open. This applies to all SLA licensed entities as per the SLA.

This comes direct from the SLA to show that the 3 tiers may remain open:

3. Essential manufacturing including
food processing, including all foods and beverages
chemicals
medical equipment/instruments
pharmaceuticals
safety and sanitary products
telecommunications
microelectronics/semi-conductor
agriculture/farms
paper products

4. Essential retail including
grocery stores including all food and beverage stores
pharmacies
convenience stores
farmer’s markets
gas stations
restaurants/bars (but only for take-out/delivery)
hardware and building material stores

Between restaurants and bars being allowed to sell alcohol to-go during their coronavirus closure, and this, you have multiple options for acquiring alcohol during this “pause.”

As CNBC reports, the new rules allow residents to leave their home for exercise, but “outdoor recreation is a solitary recreational exercise,” as Cuomo said in a Friday press conference. “It’s running. It’s hiking. It’s not playing basketball with five other people.”

“When I talk about the most drastic action we can take, this is the most drastic action we can take,” Cuomo said. “This is not life as usual. Accept it. Realize it and deal with it.”