OUTDOOR DINING SOLUTION TAKES SHAPE IN NYC

Acompromise between the Mayor and City Council for the new permanent outdoor dining program has been reached and we are thrilled!

The NYC Hospitality Alliance always knew that the temporary emergency Open Restaurants outdoor dining program we helped secure for our industry in June of 2020 - during some of the darkest days of the pandemic - would eventually end. But we strongly believed that going back to the old expensive, lengthy, restrictive, and overly difficult sidewalk cafe law was not an option.

The rest of Manhattan will pay $31 per square foot. Previously it was charged at $40 per square foot. So, a HUGE reduction in fees!

Now after two years of discussions and negotiations with the mayor’s administration and the City Council, led by our attorney and sidewalk cafe expert Rob Bookman, a new outdoor dining program is coming.

Sidewalk Café and Roadway Streeteries Included! When compared to the old sidewalk cafe law, the new permanent program, which allows for year-round sidewalk café dining, will include a faster, less expensive, and a less complicated licensing process for sidewalk cafes than existed previously.

The new law will also include seasonal roadway dining from April through November as part of the permanent transformation of our streets, something that before the pandemic was not even a dream. We strongly believe it is better to have eight months of roadway than no roadway dining at all, even if it’s not allowed during the winter. How this process is managed will be determined in the future by the Department of Transportation rule making process.

And outdoor dining will now be legally available to restaurants in all neighborhoods across the five boroughs, and no longer primarily concentrated south of 96th Street in Manhattan like it was before the pandemic.

Here are additional highlights of the agreed upon outdoor dining program, which still must be enacted by the Mayor and City Council before taking effect:

The outdoor dining license fee will be $1,050 for a four-year license. Previously it was a similar amount, but the fee was paid every twoyears. License renewals will also be every four- years.

The consent fees will range from $6 per square foot to $18 per square foot in areas north of 125th Street in Manhattan and the other boroughs. Previously it was $30 per square foot. 80% of the city will pay the lowest $6 per square foot rate. The rest of Manhattan will pay $31 per square foot. Previously it was charged at $40 per square foot. So, a HUGE reduction in fees!

The fees for the roadway dining will be proportionally less because it’s permitted only eight months a year. Applications will no longer require plans to be prepared by a professional architect or engineer saving additional monies. Hours of operation will be 10:00 a.m. to midnight.

First time violations will get an opportunity to cure with no fine. The required approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in the old continued on page 117