MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FIND MIDDLE GROUND ON NYC OUTDOOR DINING

After a year plus of waiting for clarification, New York City’s outdoor dining program, a popular pandemic program designed to help the restaurant industry survive, is about to become a permanent part of the city’s landscape.

A City Council bill, released last month, calls for creating a licensing structure that would allow outdoor dining structures to exist in roadways, but only from April through November. Sidewalk cafes would be allowed year-round.

The bill, which is supported by Mayor Eric Adams and still requires the approval of the full Council, aims to strike a balance between retaining a mostly popular program while taking steps to control its outgrowth.

“The temporary Open Restaurants program saved 100,000 jobs and countless local restaurants at the height of the pandemic, while helping the city reimagine its public spaces,” Mayor Adams explained. “It also left hundreds of abandoned sheds on our streets that have become havens for rats and eyesores for New Yorkers. For months, I have been saying loud and clear that outdoor dining is here to stay and we need to get it right. Our administration has been working tirelessly with Speaker Adams, Council member Velázquez, and all of our partners in the City Council to craft this program, and today, we are one big step closer to delivering it. With this bill, we will create a permanent, year-round outdoor dining program that will support our small businesses, create jobs for New Yorkers, and keep our streets and communities vi- brant. We will continue to move this program forward urgently to give restaurant owners and communities the clarity and support they deserve.”

The bill would set forth basic design guidelines that are still to be determined. Some elements of the plan drew immediate criticism, including continued on page 120