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Despite pleas from restaurant and bar owners to lift the state’s 10 p.m. curfew, Cuomo announced on Friday, Feb. 5 that there would be no exception for the big game on Sunday, Feb. 7.
On Friday, dozens of restauranteurs filed a lawsuit against the state over the curfew, arguing that it would discourage New Yorkers from heading to local bars or restaurants for the Super Bowl because they would have to leave around halftime.
However, Cuomo drew a line in the sand and said he is not considering lifting the curfew as the state begins recovering from the post-holiday COVID-19 surge.
“The curfew is complicated,” Cuomo said. “In this state, we don’t have different licenses for restaurants and bars. Many states' bars are separate from rest, in retrospect, I can see why.
“We have one license and it doesn’t distinguish between bars and restaurants,” he continued. “If we could distinguish between the two, then we could have separate times for restaurants and bars.
Cuomo added that “we cannot (distinguish between the two), so the curfew is because when people tend to stay later and they’re just drinking, there are more gatherings, you can’t drink and wear a mask.
“That’s the point of the curfew and no we're not thinking of changing the curfew for Super Bowl Sunday.”
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