Last year, the State Liquor Authority started an undercover investigation in which it made under-age decoy buyers to try and see whether they were able to buy alcohol.

On Sunday, officials have stated that the buyers were able to purchase alcohol at more than half of the hundreds of pharmacies, grocery stores and liquor stores in New York City. Between April and September, the buyers as a part of investigation went to 911 stores across the city.

Around 10% of these stores were having liquor licenses. The city’s health department said that the buyers were able to have alcohol at 58% of the businesses. The health commissioner, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, said that now they have better idea of the picture.

They will take steps to reduce under-age alcohol consumption. Dr. Mary was of the view that letters had to be sent to all stores that sell alcohol to check identification and also, ensure that their employees are trained so they do not sell alcohol to people younger than 21 years of age.

The department said that it would sponsor training for stores in the coming months and it would definitely help things like recognizing fake identification.

The department has also translated the Liquor Authority’s handbook for stores into Arabic and Chinese, both are the most requested languages. The stores found selling alcohol to minor faces penalty of $2,500 for a first-time offense and up to $10,000 for repeat violations. License suspensions and revocations can also take place.

“Reducing access to alcohol will ... curtail underage drinking and reduce the nearly 7,000 alcohol-related emergency room visits among New Yorkers under age 21”, stated Dr. Mary.