>The state had only cleared seven restaurants, bars and cafés to serve booze outdoors as the full program resumed on Tuesday due to a mixup between city and state government. Meanwhile [some 600 establishments](https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/18/its-official-mayoral-candidate-adrienne-adams-decimated-outdoor-dining) with a “conditional approval” by the Department of Transportation were left in limbo — not knowing if they could legally serve alcohol, which is a major money-maker and joy-bringer.
>”Please be advised that the authority will accept New York City DOT issued conditional approvals,” SLA’s General Counsel Shannon Kearney Sarfoh said at its full board meeting on Wednesday.
>Restaurants will have 60 days to file for an alteration to their state liquor license, SLA officials said.
>”Our goal is to make every effort to review these applications as quickly as possible,” said the Authority’s Deputy Commissioner of Licensing, Maureen Hughes.
>The SLA reviews “most applications” within seven to 10 days, spokesperson Patrick Garrett previously told Streetsblog.
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Huge news! We’ll get outdoor drinking (and dining) after all. From Kevin Duggan:
>Hundreds of [outdoor dining](https://nyc.streetsblog.org/category/issues-campaigns/outdoor-dining-issues-campaigns) restaurants will be able to serve alcohol after all, now that the State Liquor Authority said it would accept the city’s conditional al fresco permits, moving past [a widespread concern first revealed by Streetsblog](https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/20/disaster-outdoor-dining-snafu-could-ban-alfresco-booze-for-months).
>The state had only cleared seven restaurants, bars and cafés to serve booze outdoors as the full program resumed on Tuesday due to a mixup between city and state government. Meanwhile [some 600 establishments](https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/18/its-official-mayoral-candidate-adrienne-adams-decimated-outdoor-dining) with a “conditional approval” by the Department of Transportation were left in limbo — not knowing if they could legally serve alcohol, which is a major money-maker and joy-bringer.
>”Please be advised that the authority will accept New York City DOT issued conditional approvals,” SLA’s General Counsel Shannon Kearney Sarfoh said at its full board meeting on Wednesday.
>Restaurants will have 60 days to file for an alteration to their state liquor license, SLA officials said.
>”Our goal is to make every effort to review these applications as quickly as possible,” said the Authority’s Deputy Commissioner of Licensing, Maureen Hughes.
>The SLA reviews “most applications” within seven to 10 days, spokesperson Patrick Garrett previously told Streetsblog.
Read the rest here: [https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/04/02/bottoms-up-state-liquor-bigs-ok-booze-for-outdoor-dining-after-all](https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/04/02/bottoms-up-state-liquor-bigs-ok-booze-for-outdoor-dining-after-all)