A proposal to allow the sale of wine in New York grocery stores is unlikely to be completed before state lawmakers leave Albany for the rest of the year on June 8, top Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday said. 

"It's not likely it's going to happen," said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. "I don't think the Legislature is there. I don't think we're close to wine in grocery stores."

At the same, a broader legislative pacakge to overhaul New York's alcohol laws also appears unlikely at this point. A commission has recommended a series of changes and Gov. Kathy Hochul has signaled she is supportive of expanding the hours liquor can be sold.

"We're not speaking to the Assembly about passing a package of these," said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. "There are certainly things we're looking at in terms of the State Liquor Authority. We're always really focused on how to get the authority and the laws to reflect where we are today." 

The bill faltering is not entirely surprising: Sen. Liz Krueger, a main sponsor of the measure, said earlier this month she did not anticipate its approval this year. 

"I didn’t think this would be a fast-moving, getting it done in the next three weeks story line," Krueger said. "I was just hoping to introduce the bill, have people think about it and what it says and put in the context of the other changes that are being proposed."

Selling wine in grocery stores has been an at times pitched legislative battle, but has been largely dormant over the last decade. 

Grocery stores and supermarkets have pushed to sell wine in their aisles, arguing the move would provide for more consumer choice. Liquor stores, many of them of small buisnesses, have strenuously pushed back, seeing the proposal as a threat to their business model.