Cheers to You, America! (But Public Safety Comes First)

Hopefully we can properly celebrate Independence Day in 2021, but only if lawmakers help

I wanted to send you all off on a high point for your Independence Day weekend, give you something fun and celebratory to sip, maybe drop some stimulating historical and/or cultural knowledge along the way, but I honestly didn’t know what to write.

So I took to Twitter and asked people what they wanted to read. There were some good suggestions, including a Shark Attack cocktail to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Jaws, a classic movie that takes place on Independence Day weekend.

But one response resonated the loudest: Mike Neff, @coyotesallover, a former New York City bartender and bar owner—once a partner in Holiday Cocktail Lounge, Ward III and The Rum House—who now owns the Cottonmouth Club in Houston, Texas. He tweeted: “‘Bars are dying’, is pretty much the only content I want to see. I get that you need to do your job, so pass the message up the chain for us, will you? Thanks, friend.’”

He’s right. You don’t need me to tell you how to make a sparkling red, white and blue cocktail right now.

Why bars are dying

In the past couple of weeks, Neff has been increasingly vocal about the dangers of opening bars during the pandemic, and how without substantial federal support, the whole bar industry could die. It started with the Cottonmouth Club’s Instagram videos that defended his reasons for shutting down the bar ahead of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s mandate that restaurants and bars close again in that state. The Texas bar industry had been ravaged because not enough patrons were wearing masks and social distancing on their own time, and in some instances, infected staff were working anyway because they had to make a living somehow. “I’m speaking to you from the future,” he said in one of them, hoping to caution people who lived in other locations, including the UK this weekend, that are poised to re-open indoor dining and drinking.

Covid-19 is spreading out of control again, and bars across America, even the ones that were strictly following health guidelines, became infection hot spots. Neff also discussed how, on the flip side, there was no way a business that owes rent and licensing fees (which in turn help pay mortgages and property taxes) could survive on takeout alone.

Neff’s videos were beginning to hit the mainstream (notice I refrained from using the word “viral”), and suddenly he was being interviewed on the likes of Fox News, which happened minutes after a Mike Pence news briefing. He explained why re-opening bars hurts, rather than helps, the economy, because they then have to shut down again.

Did enough people hear what he had to say? The President used the word “wither” in a press conference not too long after.

It’s not safe to go back into the water just yet

The Jaws analogy I mentioned earlier isn’t off, though. This is not an original parallel, but there is blood in the water, and we all seem to be living on a real life Amity Island. If the mayor tells you to go back in—”But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time.”—then people will. They do this despite the risk because they miss the feel of the water, they miss swimming in it, they miss the fun, they miss the social mingling, and most importantly, because they can. Maybe nothing will happen. But if they didn’t do it, they’d also miss potentially getting themselves and people they come in contact with killed.

Even if you’re a social distancing pro, unfortunately you can’t count on everyone you now meet, even indirectly, to share your skill set. "Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news," NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci informed a Senate panel earlier this week. "We really have got to stop that."

On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill DeBlasio postponed the re-opening of indoor dining and drinking in New York City indefinitely (takeout and outside dining is permitted). “I feel the governor just commuted my death sentence,” says John Hedigan, a bartender who was expected to return to work on Monday, July 6th, when the original re-opening had been scheduled.

But if the government mandates a shutdown, businesses can collect insurance, right?

Not this time.

Operators are understandably disappointed, and worried. There’s just only so far takeout and limited seating, especially in poor weather, can go. Not past this fall, certainly. Some owners made considerable safety-related interior renovation investments in anticipation of opening interiors to the public. Others attempted to pay off their outstanding liquor bills (law requires that no alcohol can be ordered with an outstanding tab). There is still rent to pay, and other expenses.

However, with other states having failed at re-opening properly, and in the interest of public safety, it was absolutely the right decision to postpone the full re-opening of New York City. Yet this decision was made at the expense of everything else that culturally breathes life into it.

“Support your local bars/restaurants/museums/theaters/music venues!”

“No Wait! It’s too dangerous! Stay home!”

There’s no middle ground, only hard pavement between those two camps because without cancellation—or at the very least a significant reduction—of rent, mortgage, property taxes and licensing fees there’s nothing but a hard sidewalk. And many people will soon have no choice but to sleep on it.

Another blow to many businesses is a pandemic insurance loophole that was set up years ago that makes it nearly impossible to collect Business Interruption Insurance to help pay for these expenses. This type of insurance, which most operators are already paying into, would normally cover unforced closures. However, most businesses have been denied their applications to collect because of Covid-19.

Thirstgroup.org is a volunteer advocacy group that has formed within the community and with legal representatives to help persuade lawmakers to change these policies so that businesses can collect on the insurance they have already paid into.

To learn more and to get involved in your area, please visit thirstgroup.org.

We need bars to outlive the pandemic

I did not visit bars so I could sip a Martini in a plastic container on the street a few feet away from a fetid pile of trash and not be able to engage with people around me. It may seem like a simple luxury to have bars to return to at all, however, think of neighborhoods with thriving bar scenes, and how attractive they are for spending time there in general. “[Bars] are both cultural and financial institutions,” says Neff. “Bars are Main Street Businesses. If they get boarded up, then people will be afraid to visit that neighborhood. It looks like a ghost town…. People who bought property there will want to move away.”

We need them to go back to when we safely can, and some day, the water will be safe to go back into again. For now, we just need a bigger home bar.

Here’s something to make in it this weekend.

Another Striking Sun

by Michael Neff, owner and bartender, the Cottonmouth Club in Houston, TX

2 oz. mezcal joven (Neff uses Ilegal)
.5 oz. Campari
.25 oz. fresh lime juice
.25 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
3 oz. fresh watermelon juice

Build in a glass rimmed with Tajín spice (optional). Add ice and gently stir to combine. Garnish as you please—dehydrated citrus, pickled watermelon rind, cocktail cherry, etc.

All of us at Alcohol Professor wish you a happy, and most importantly, safe, July 4th weekend!