THE LOCKDOWN SHOWDOWN

ALARMED BY UNILATERAL COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS, STATES ARE IMPOSING NEW LIMITS ON EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY. ERIC BOEHM

- ERIC BOEHM

BREWERY OWNER JORDAN Serulneck remembers feeling the pit in his stomach when he found out the state was ordering him to shut his doors—again. “Our rent was still full price,” recalls Serulneck, the co-owner of Seven Sirens Brewing Co. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “We have a loan with a bank, and that still had to be paid.”

It was November 23, 2020, three days before Thanksgiving. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, had just ordered a snap shutdown that required bars and restaurants to close on “Thanksgiving Eve” to prevent gatherings that might spread COVID-19. The fact that Seven Sirens had scraped together more than $10,000 to convert an outdoor space into a heated patio ahead of the winter didn’t matter; the governor’s order banned both indoor and outdoor dining.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, just a few weeks after Seven Sirens had first opened in mid-February, Serulneck complied with the state’s shutdown order. The promised “15 days to slow the spread” turned into weeks, then longer. It wasn’t until months later that any bars, restaurants, or breweries were allowed to reopen for in-person service. Then came the Thanksgiving shutdown, and then another the following month, this time banning indoor dining from December 11 until after the start of the new year.