Johnson's New Liquor Permit Measure Now Law
New legislation designed to speed up the liquor licensing process would be "a relief" to small business owners.
Tina O'Brien was ready to open her restaurant, Wild Honey On Main, in May. Instead, she held off until July, when she had finally received her liquor license from the State Liquor Authority. "There were horrible delays," she said, noting that the wait could have been as long as six months. Instead, she hired a liquor license expert who knows the ins and outs of the process, and a lawyer, who helped whittle the wait down to 2.5 months. O'Brien is not alone. Across Long Island and New York state, small businesses, from gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, and other venues were hurt by the inability to serve and sell alcohol while the SLA spent months processing their permit applications. As O'Brien points out, owners could spend …
