Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Staggering toward the April 1 start of outdoor dining in NYC

This is a prototype for the new style of outdoor dining structure, which was first seen last summer at Sunday to Sunday on Orchard Street. 

The city announced that restaurants and bars participating in the Dining Out NYC program can start setting up their roadway dining structures next Tuesday, preparing for the official start date of April 1.

Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez made the announcement yesterday

This is the first year of the new program. Per 2023 City Council legislation that Mayor Adams later approved, establishments can operate sidewalk setups year-round, while roadway dining operates seasonally, from April 1 to Nov. 29. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle. 

Per the city's press release, 2,600 establishments have approval to operate on roadways or sidewalks. "By April 1, NYC DOT estimates 600 roadway dining applicants and another roughly 2,000 sidewalk applicants will be able to operate." 

The release also states that "NYC DOT has received more than 3,400 Dining Out NYC applications from more than 3,000 restaurants." So, several hundred restaurants are still awaiting approval.

The glacial approval process made headlines last month. Of the thousands of applications, only 40 restaurants reportedly received permits in mid-February. 

By Feb. 28, the DOT announced that it was reducing the red tape and granting conditional approvals for most roadway dining applicants before April 1.

According to NYC Comptroller Brad Lander's office last month, an estimated 12,500 restaurants offered outdoor dining at the height of the pandemic.

Restaurateurs blamed the four-month moratorium and the new complicated and costly process for the decline in outdoor setups. During the pandemic program, owners could simply fill out a form online and start serving food and drinks outside. DOT inspectors would come later to check on their structures. 

The new law ... banned winter roadway dining, added yearly fees for every roadway cafĂ© license and required a public hearing for each curbside setup. 
Last week, in a widely reported story (The New York Times... Hellgate ... Streetsblog), the full City Council voted to deny Le Dive a sidewalk cafe on Canal Street in Chinatown. 

"Le Dive has demonstrated a continuous disregard for sidewalk cafe regulation, and at this time cannot be trusted to be a good steward of this program and must be held accountable," District 1 Council Member Christopher Marte said in public testimony.

Marte was responding to residential concerns and quality-of-life issues on the Canal Street strip from East Broadway to Allen, which some people believe is turning into Bourbon Street during warmer weather. According to the Times, Le Dive's application for a roadway setup remains under review. 

Livable streets advocates have also criticized the seasonal restrictions on curbside dining. On a seasonably warm March 7, Open Plans hosted a "guerilla" pop-up curbside dining structure at C&B Cafe on Seventh Street. 

The space quickly filled with C&B patrons. "People are able to sit down and talk to their neighbors," Open Plans Co-Executive Director Sarah Lind told 1010 WINS. This is how we create community." ABC 7 and Hellgate also covered the event. 

At the moment, it doesn't seem that many people involved in the process are terribly happy.

18 comments:

concerned citizen said...

Should a cafe that doesn’t provide any indoor seating be allowed to have tables and chairs on their sidewalk and street?

Anonymous said...

yes?

Anonymous said...

Any sidewalk seating is required to have a sidewalk license according to the new rules. However, if you walk anywhere in the neighborhood, it seems that every other food establishment, whether they have indoor seating or not has tables and chairs setup on the sidewalk, thus skirting the law. No one wants to give up what they once had. It seems the city is turning a blind eye on this whereas it could collect a lot of money by requiring a license. These places are using public space for free.

Anonymous said...

Does this also allow for non-food alcohol establishments also? The loophole during covid allowed for packaged snacks and the like, which are not considered food in the restaurant sense of the definition. Curious because there has always been sidewalk cafe licenses for hospitality establishments. Allowing for 'drinking only' bars to set up in the streets seems ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Another season where restaurant owners to get something for nothing and they will push the boundaries, and the city will allow all this even though it's detrimental to the quality of life for everyone living nearby.

If, due to Covid having existed in 2020, you suddenly MUST eat outdoors all summer, please move to Europe, where they are more than ready to accommodate you.

Anonymous said...

Nice. Glad outdoor dining is coming back. Brought the city to life. These past few months have been boring.

Anonymous said...

Stay inside if you’re going to be so cranky

Anonymous said...

This is all great news if you are rat, or a million rats. Is there a rule that restaurants must sweep or hose down the "public" space from which they profit from?

M said...

I live on a block that was full of outside seating and it certainly impacted our quality of life, particularly from Thursday to Sunday. But if they are good neighbors and close at a reasonable hour why not? I'd rather be able to eat outside and not worry so much about my bad immune system and catching anything. And as to Anon at 11:11, COVID still exists, restaurant owners pay taxes too, and in a crowded city where 70% of the people do not own cars I am all for streets being used for something other than cars. And as to snide remarks about moving elsewhere, consider the concept of living in a civil society.

Anonymous said...

Residents with cars need their street parking. Outdoor dining just attracts more rats.

Anonymous said...

if you live in the east village, there are very few reasons you need a car. why do residents feel entitled to free parking in the most expensive city in the country? i’d rather support our local small businesses then just let vehicles take up valuable space

Anonymous said...

Wonderful. The shit show begins yet again. I, for one, am not fond of this. I used to work as a waiter here in the EV serving customers outside. Some restaurant owners take advantage of this and make conditions unbearable to earn an extra buck at the expense of pedestrians and employees.

Anonymous said...

Residents with cars attracts more rats

Anonymous said...

this has always been the rule - just often ignored - look at the area in front of che li and mountain house on st. marks, absolutely disgusting. all it would take to fix is a once monthly pressure washing. all we can do is submit 311 requests and hope.

Anonymous said...

The prototype doesn’t look like the renderings provided by the DOT in 2023. The prototype looks more permanent than temporary.

And I agree that ”a food establishment/take out place” that do not have indoor dining seats should not have any outdoor dining seats. Obviously it should move to a bigger storefront that accommodates a kitchen, storage and indoor seating

Anonymous said...

I'm all for the streets being used as STREETS. Somehow NYC was a vibrant & desirable place full of tourists and locals BEFORE Covid - but now, if you can't eat outside, suddenly life is not worth living and NYC is unbearable?

Anonymous said...

@12:17PM: Yeah, Covid exists but NOT as the terrifying, life-threatening pandemic it was in 2020. Most people I talk to say "Nah, Covid's gone! No reason to mask or any of that". Thus, no reason for street dining, except if you're a greedy restaurant owner.

Does EVERYONE get to have a street business? Can I start & run a business in that kind of space ... maybe shoe repairs & clothing alterations, or maybe I can sell cheap knock-off handbags. Why should only restaurant owners get city space for FREE? What about all the other small businesses? Heck, maybe I'll start doing motorcycle and car repairs right out on the street; that'd be a completely appropriate use of the reason the street exists.

consumer advocate said...

this all would make a lot more sense if we had less of a focus on bike lanes. as is, not a lot of real estate out there..