Tim Walton
40 Erie County bars and restaurants are celebrating a partial victory in court today.
A Supreme Court judge told the State that they must come to with a way for them to reopen by Monday or appear in court with data justifying it on Tuesday.
The only data currently, showing bars and restaurants account for just 1.43%, is not enough to justify keeping them shutdown.
“It’s looking like a win for us. They’ve got to do something because I’m losing a lot of money” said Peter Gerace, owner of Pharoahs, one of the 40 establishments on the lawsuit.
The suit, which was filed Christmas Eve, listed Governor Andrew Cuomo, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the New York State Liquor Authority, New York and Erie County Department of Health, State Assembly, State Senate and The Empire Development Corporation.
The restaurants, stating a “disturbing and gross abuse of their power”, are seeking an injunction to allow them to re-open, claiming the regulations have all been established with no scientific evidence or data to back up the restrictions.
The petition argued that by Cuomo’s own admittance, only 1.43% of COVID-19 cases came from bars or restaurants in comparison to 73.84% of COVID-19 cases, that came from homes and private gatherings.
Bars and restaurants have been given a number of “nonsense” restrictions that at times seem to be hypocritical and baseless. Under Cuomo’s orders, when they were allowed to open, families of 5 could drive in the same car to a restaurant, but told they could only sit 4 to a table.
They also had to order food with a drink, while complying with the same social distancing measures that would be in place if they just order a beer.
Furthermore, they had to close by 10pm and patrons could not stand at eat.
The establishments on the lawsuit include:
-AMHERST PIZZA & ALE HOUSE, INC., (AMHERST PIZZA & ALE HOUSE)
-BOTTOMS UP V, LLC d/b/a BOTTOMS UP,
-CAMPFIRE GRILL II, INC,
-DA BADA, INC. d/b/a BADA BING BAR AND GRILL,
-DDF RESTAURANTS, INC. d/b/a DUFF’S FAMOUS WINGS,
-DON BENOIT d/b/a PRESCOTT’S PROVISIONS,
-DVS PROPERTIES, LLC,
-GALLERY EVENTS, LLC d/b/a VENU,
-ICE HOUSE PUB, LLC, d/b/a ICE HOUSE PUB,
-JOHN DOE CORP.,
-KFEATHER5, LLC d/b/a DUFF’S FAMOUS WINGS,
-KMT MANAGEMENT, INC. d/b/a BUFFALO BREW PUB,
-LADY BIRDS RESTAURANTS, LLC d/b/a THE BAYOU,
-LYONS, BIGGANE, INC. d/b/a THE BYRD HOUSE RESTAURANT,
-MAMBRINO KING WINE-COFFEE BAR LLC,
-MARY SANTARINI d/b/a LONDA’S DINER,
-MCCANS, INC. d/b/a MOONEY’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL,
-MKC RESTAURANTS, LLC d/b/s NEAT,
-OVERPASS PUB, LLC d/b/a OVERPASS PUB,
-PHAROHS GC, INC., (PHAROAH’S GENTLEMAN’S CLUB)
-RAPHAEL’S CORP. d/b/a RAPHAEL’S,
-SANTORA’S PHASE II, LLC,
-SANTORA’S PIZZA PUB AND GRILL, INC., (SANTORO’S PIZZA PUB & GRILL)
-SCOTT A. JARGIELLO d/b/a CAMPFIRE GRILL,
-SHOWNY, LLC d/b/a SCULPTURE HOSPITALITY OF WNY,
-SMITH BUDUSON, INC. d/b/a ROBBIE’S BAR AND GRILL,
-TACO COCINE ELLICOTT, LLC d/b/a DEEP SOUTH TACO,
-TACO COCINE HERTEL, LLC d/b/a DEEP SOUTH TACO,
-TANTALUS, LLC, d/b/a THE YELLING GOAT RESTAURANT,
-TBF ENTERPRISES, INC.,
-TETON SKY CORP. d/b/a TETON KITCHEN and
TETON KITCHEN ELMWOOD,
-THE DEFIELDS CORPORATION d/b/a
–THE FIRE HOUSE SPORTS BAR & GRILL,
-THE HOWLING ROOSTER, LLC,
-WNY BEER CLUB, LLC d/b/a RUSTY NICKEL BREWING CO.,
-WNY RESTAURANT SYSTEM d/b/a DUFF’S FAMOUS WINGS,
-99 BRICK OVEN BAR AND GRILLE, LLC, (99 BRICK OVEN)
-5786 TRANSIT RD, INC. d/b/a FIELDSTONE COUNTRY INN, and
-8444 TRANSIT RD, LLC d/b/a TAVERN AT WINDSOR PARK,
This case follows that of other similar ones including a suit filed by Buffalo gym owner Robby Dinero. Dinero was granted a victory and is now able to open at 100%.
