Workers remove the curbside dining structure from Phebe's on Jan. 27
The final rules for the city's permanent outdoor dining program, set to launch next month, are now in the books.
On Friday, city officials released the new guidelines, titled "Dining Out NYC."
The significant change: Enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November.
According to city officials, if restaurants plan to offer diners open-air options, owners will have to remove their old outdoor dining setups and replace them by the summer.
Per the city's release announcing "Dining Out NYC" ...
Final program rules include clear design requirements, siting criteria on where outdoor dining setups can be located in relation to other street features, like subway entrances, fire hydrants, and more, and the types of materials that can be used in outdoor setups. They also require that the setups preserve clear sidewalk paths and emergency roadway lanes — including water-filled, rat-resistant protective barriers for roadway setups —– and use easily moveable furniture and coverings. Ultimately, the final rules will create a lighter-weight outdoor dining experience with lines of sight, as compared to the fully enclosed shacks of the temporary COVID-19-era program.
"This administration has found a way to continue outdoor dining in New York City while prioritizing cleanliness,' said New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. "Under these rules, New Yorkers will be asking for a table, and the rats will be saying, 'Check, please!'"
This link has guidelines for roadway and sidewalk dining.
Meanwhile, Kazuka at 107 Avenue A has brought the booths outside for some open-air hookah action here near Seventh Street...
Well, upon reading the new guidelines, it appears that considerably more time and thought went into this pronouncement than was previously afforded.
ReplyDeleteNot being a fan of the pandemic debacle, I find this to be a more amenable compromise to all, rather than being a grandfathered in gift to business now that the pandemic crisis has abated.
Without a doubt, there are going to be screams of favoritism and what-not by both sides; but this plan seems to have taken into consideration many of the complaints raised by city residents, as well as having expanded the overall concept of the prior sidewalk cafe standards from the recent past.
I'd be interested in hearing what others think.
Gee wiz - get rid of these already
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how slowly the action is taken to enforce these "rules"- will clearly illustrate how it's nothing more than a cash grab by restaurants for extra square feet - bad neighbors should be exposed.
ReplyDeleteThis is still a tax payer funded gift of our streets to landlords (real estate companies like Jared Kushner and Steven Croman). New leases for restaurants will expand to include our public streets while the sidewalks are used as a transit place for servicing the tables. This is undemocratic and gives those who already have, more of what is meant for all of us to share.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who worked in one of these ghastly dining structures most recently as a server, I am elated this law is now in effect. I have been witness to some of the most disgusting things I won't mention. Most are eyesores because they are not maintained well. At least this will elevate business owners to either step up their game, ensuring they are free from vermin, free from litter, have them cleaned/sanitized daily, especially during the summer, and not utilize it as a storage unit. I think many will not rebuild once they are dismantled for the colder months. My previous employer spent over 25k to have their dining structure built. 25k! So, imagine having to spend thousands more to tear it down, just to have to it rebuilt again in the spring, not to mention having to pay for the materials and items to be placed in storage during off season. I don't see it, especially in this dreadful economy. I hope they will be a thing of the past. NYC is just too dirty and too overcrowded to facilitate them any longer.
ReplyDeleteOutside dining is fantastic, more space for restaurants is a much better use of our streets than free parking for cars.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not just parking, they often take up sidewalk space, they causes servers to go back and forth back and forth across the sidewalk, and have more recently become a delivery driver hangout
DeleteSurprised at the vitriol directed at outdoor dining sheds here.
ReplyDeleteYeah they had to be modified, but the fact that they could operate in the winter with heaters was such a great addition. It allowed for more seats for restaurants... and if you ever tried to go to a place with a group of people, you probably were thankful these existed.
The final form of this is just slightly better sidewalk dining. It's a shame. Also the April-November limitation is shortsighted. The city will continue to be the city, I guess. But I know that I personally enjoyed the dining structures.
i hear this comment all the time. do i rather have a benign car park next to my home or a rat infested shed, the car wins all day. cars don't goes into my apt but rats do!
ReplyDeleteThis is a step in the right direction but
ReplyDeletenot enough. This nonsense should be
completely eliminated. This city is
congested enough with human population,
traffic, bicycles, bike lanes, bike racks,
and more. The only true winners of the
sheds were the rats.
Good Riddance! I live on 9th and the one outside my apartment has smelled like an open cesspool for 2+ years! Such disgusting eyesores.
ReplyDelete@10:10 yes. i understand your dislike of cars but as someone who lives above a restaurant in the EV with a shed. i rather have a benign car park in front of our home than a rat invest shed. the car stays in the street but the rats don't!!
ReplyDeleteI have an outdoor space now. I really feel they are trying, but not being able to enclose & lock the space is a problem. Without the roof (and plexiglass sides), I had roaming drunks hanging out in there at 5am or homeless people trying to setup a squat and using it as a restroom. Going back to umbrellas, is a huge problem, they will be flying all over the place. The current sheds would be fine if there was actual enforcement to make bars and restaurants keep them clean. Neglected sheds should have been easily fined and removed. The new system takes away a lot of the useful characteristics, and weakens the strength of the structure.
ReplyDeleteWhy @10:10? Streets are for transit, I'd rather parked cars than double parked cars. Small use of sidewalk space is fine with me. The greedy restaurants that have been using both that box you in, like Supper, drive me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI get not wanting to have badly maintained dining sheds. They stink. Conversely, I also like having an option to sit outside since people seem to think covid has ended. It has not and is particularly dangerous if you have underlying health conditions. The sheds are the only way I get to dine out without being anxious. Also, I wonder how many people are going to realize they have long covid after having covid a few times. Long covid is real and it is grueling.
ReplyDeleteI initially posted at 10:10.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone read and fully understand my post? I never stated I disliked cars. I dislike the dining structures themselves and would prefer if they were eradicated. The very reason for this is the lack of maintenance and compliance from business owners who fail to meet regulations and standards. Most are essentially trash bins and public toilets. Try having to clean up after someone who relieved themselves in one of these like I have many a time and get back to me.
@11:07am
ReplyDeleteDo the homeless have any less access to the public sidewalk than you have? to make a profit? i find it insulating that you just want the public sidewalk for your profit making restaurant!
Rats don’t eat planters, tables and chairs. Containerization will help control rats and is being pushed by the city. Let the pedestrianization of the city continue.
ReplyDelete11:55AM
ReplyDeletei think most of the response is to the the 10:10am post right after yours
@12:45
ReplyDeletewhat do you think lives under the sheds? do you not see the garbage and food scrap next the the sheds in the mornings?
This is still a terrible deal for pedestrians. I was walking on Broadway this weekend to the north of Union Square. They had blocked off traffic to create a pedestrian plaza. Recently, the restaurants there doubled & tripled their space by monopolizing the plaza. I had to walk into the bike like to walk down the street. Restaurants are not suffering. What we lack if diversity of our businesses, specifically in the East Village.
ReplyDelete@12:40 PM. "Let the pedestrianization of the city continue"? I am more than a little surprised at this comment since the outdoor sheds have destroyed the walkability of the city in downtown neighborhoods, where outdoor sheds and their necessary paraphenalia and their waitstaff and their crowds of customers waiting for a table in some places completely block the sidewalk space - and where it's not even possible to step out into the street because there's a bike lane there.
ReplyDeleteI truly have no friends who want to eat in the sheds and everybody I talk to hate the nasty structures....they apparently do not serve New Yorkers right
ReplyDeleteCan we all agree based on many of these comments that most of us are in favor of their permanent removal? I dislike having to look at one let alone dine in one. My son is a waiter at a small, yet popular restaurant in the west village. He says they are a pain in the ass to clean. That managers overbook the dining structure with reservations when it hasn't been properly sanitized the night before. They overlook repairs and maintenance because they want to save money. Rats run amok. Addicts often use the space to get a fix too. These were great for the pandemic, but its been almost four years since it all began. If a business intends on keeping a shed, they better make sure it is up to code, place it in storage during the colder months or tear it down for good.
ReplyDeleteMore times than not, most of these outdoor dining areas harbor various stragglers who find a place to sit to listen to their bluetooth speakers, smoke weed and possibly sleep in there. Hopefully with the new implementation of the sheds, business owners will make them more "user friendly" for their actual customers.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get rid of 90% of cars.
ReplyDeleteLike this: https://www.instagram.com/p/C22f2Raupad/
I quite like the concept of dining sheds. The main problem was construction and maintenance. A poorly constructed shed is obviously going to be an invitation for hungry rats out for an evening snack or two. Even with the prohibition of permanent structures the rats will still be hanging around, gnawing and munching and sniffing, pushing out subordinate rats and mating with as many females as they can. Fair to say the rats aren't going anywhere. Probably the only species that thinks NY is a really great place to live. Why worry, be happy. The other thing is the portable structure alternative seems like the City is half-assing it. Flimsy garden furniture set up in the roadway with minimal protection from the elements, as well as cars and trucks and specialized beggars?? What could go wrong.
ReplyDeletenecessary provision: every restaurant MUST have a cat
ReplyDeleteSo much for ADA accessible dining in NYC. Good luck with going back to the stairs.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good idea when we really NEEDED it but ultimately it was free real estate for businesses, Lil Frankie’s is cool, does it need another 40 tables outside along with signs telling cyclists to slow down? T
ReplyDelete@11:55 you openly admit to relieving yourself in one of these out door dining areas and you live in the neighborhood. Thats messed up.
ReplyDelete@5:29 seriously. Love Lil Frankies etc. but Frank has gotten real greedy with that shit at all his spots.
ReplyDeleteI don't get how the city just gives them all this free space for years - ONE type of business - that have been doing whatever they want, and the restaurant industry has the nerve to complain as if something is being taken away, it's wild.
For 6:31
ReplyDeleteMessed up? Did you read what I wrote? Why on earth would I as a waiter working at a restaurant try to relieve myself in the shed? This statement makes no sense. I was referring to passers by, homeless, addicts, etc, where they did a number 1 and 2, where staff members such as myself were forced to clean it up. HELLO !
@Anonymous 8:57 AM—total agreement.
ReplyDeleteYou can't polish a turd.
The City Council though a strong Democrat majority, now behaves like the autocratic GOP.
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant policies, legislation etc crafted by the restaurant lobby and bicycle lobby; nearly zero notice to residents and ability to weigh-in, no environmental assessment etc.
Who cares if hard-working residents can’t sleep and have rats?
Moreover the City has done EVERYTHING to help restaurants but ZERO to help local retail and businesses which are suffering from high rent, ecommerce and shoplifting.
There are many places and blocks with one food place after another - many areas are oversaturated with restaurants, bars, food places.
Not everything can be a restaurant.
NYC cannot survive with just restaurants for the young upscale - and nothing else.
I own a ground-floor apartment. Could never afford it now, but I got in on the ground floor. I'm thinking about maybe extending it out onto the sidewalk. With the kids getting bigger, we could really use some extra space. Would do wonders for our mental health. And practically for free, aside from the cost of construction. I'm sure the City and pedestrians won't mind.
ReplyDelete@9:16,
ReplyDeleteExactly!
My family needs more space and no doubt we are entitled to free street space in front of our building.
We are ordering a container box, a festive umbrella and sound system :)
10:13 PM A container box! Now that's a great idea. But please keep the sound system down. My wife and I will be working from our new "home office".
ReplyDeleteSo glad the guidelines include sidewalk structures too. I hope the GIGANTIC " sidewalk shed" on the NW corner of St Marks complies with these new guidelines. Hoping to navigate that corner easily and see around the corner again! Encouraging too, that "sight line" is part of the guidelines language. It'll be so nice to look across the street to the other side and see what businesses are on the opposite side the street. And the shed corridor on Ave A between E 10 and E 11 St, lifted and gone! Breathing just got easier!
ReplyDeleteWhy are our public spaces mostly used for free car storage? I’m so sick of this town being just one big jammed parking lot. Let’s make streets for people, and things humans like tp do, including dining outdoors.
ReplyDelete