BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - A lack of communication from the governor's office is keeping restaurant owners on edge over whether or not they will still be required to serve food with alcohol.
The governor's executive order mandating a food purchase when buying alcohol is one of dozens of executive orders that were due to expire on Tuesday at midnight. It appears the governor has not extended this order.
"Well, government is always frustrating," Ellie Grenauer, co-owner of Glen Park Tavern, said about the lack of communication from the governor's office. "It is frustrating. It was frustrating at the end of last year when restaurants were absolutely dying in New York State and the federal government was too caught up in politics and couldn't help us. I know New York State is working on getting the budget passed and that's the priority and forgetting we're all out here not doing so well."
When legislative leaders last month gave themselves added oversight over the governor's emergency powers, one rule the governor had to follow was to inform lawmakers of his intent to extend or modify any directive five days before an extension.
WBEN has sent multiple messages to the governor's office asking if they will extend executive orders but never received any response. We have also reached out Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to see if they received any communication, but did not hear back. We also reached out to the offices of local lawmakers to see if they were aware of any communication, but no one knew.
"We're fully expecting that before the close of business (Tuesday) the governor will issue an extension of this executive order," Attorney Steve Cohen, who represented several restaurants who sued the governor, said. "Hopefully he won't."
Grenauer said the mandate is frustrating especially for customers.
"Our customers just don't understand it," Grenauer said. "What's happening is there are some restaurants that just aren't always following the guideline and customers (think) that's over and you don't have to do it anymore. That's where the frustration comes at our end...It's hard to make money when you're turning customers away."
