Hochul pushes to make alcohol to-go permanent

Gov. Kathy Hochul was at a wine bar in Brooklyn Wednesday morning talking about reforming New York’s alcohol laws.

She also pushed for her proposal to make alcohol to go — which was popular in the pandemic — permanent.

"We saw that this was a critical revenue stream. This is what kept people afloat during those dark, dark months and years of the pandemic," said Hochul. "There has been a change in peoples’ attitudes. There is an expectation now, so why set us backwards?"

Hochul says she wants to help local restaurant and bars make a big comeback post pandemic.

The governor says she is including $2 million in her budget so the State Liquor Authority can hire 39 employees. She says the SLA gets 75,000 liquor license applications a year. Some of those new employees will help go through the backlog.