NYC Bars To Be Shut Down After 3 Social Distancing Strikes: Cuomo

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's outdoor coronavirus cocktail scene is about to be shaken and stirred.

A bar and restaurant "three strikes and you are closed" rule announced Thursday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will crack down on many pandemic party spots.

New York City establishments with lax social distancing will be closed after three violations under the rule.

But other rules quickly created confusion as to whether they will curtail officially sanctioned takeout alcohol service — a popular perk among many New York City dwellers after months of lockdown and the return of good weather.

Cuomo aides scrambled online to clarify the alcohol-related rules.

No drinking will be allowed unless patrons are seated at tables spaced 6 feet apart. Customers must also order food — meaning no alcohol-only binges. Also, no walk-up bar service is allowed.

To-go alcohol service is still allowed, so long as food is ordered.

Cuomo has long expressed frustration at scenes of crowded, maskless New York City revelers chugging their way through the pandemic outside the city's watering holes. During a telephone briefing Thursday, he claimed officials looked at 5,000 downstate bars and restaurants and found mass noncompliance with social distancing.

The new rules also come as worries grow about surging coronavirus cases out of state.

"Our numbers are good," Cuomo said, "but what we are looking at is a potential second wave coming from these other states."