Restaurants and bars participating in the Dining Out NYC program may now start serving in their roadway dining structures. The city allowed approved establishments to begin setting up last Tuesday, before today's official start.
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. (Sidewalk cafes are allowed year-round.)
The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle.
According to a city 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."
However, the Post noted Sunday: "Only seven restaurants out of 3,000 hoping to set up al fresco have received outdoor liquor licenses from the State Liquor Authority, meaning thousands may not be able to legally serve alcohol outside."
We haven't seen much curbside-dining construction in the East Village, but we spotted several in the works on the Lower East Side over the weekend, including outside hotspots like Le Dive and Dudley's.
On Saturday evening, as the temperatures started dropping from the 80s to the 50s, we saw several restaurants and cafes with chairs and tables on Broome Street.
Regardless, based on the number of applications, there will be far fewer establishments with outdoor setups compared to 2020 and 2021. According to NYC Comptroller Brad Lander's office, an estimated 12,500 restaurants offered outdoor dining at the height of the pandemic.
Also, Streetsblog reported that most curbside dining will be in wealthier neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Enjoy a coffee outdoors
Mudspot Café (top photo) has a compact curbside space ready for today. ("Smaller and cuter" than post years, they noted on Instagram.)
Meanwhile, last week, EVG's Stacie Joy spotted C&B Cafe starting work on the coffee shop's outdoor space.
Owner Ali Sahin said there will be six tables with 12 seats total — and no roof, though perhaps a few umbrellas at some point in the future. The floor panels will be removable for ease of cleaning.
"We are approved for the roadside dining structure, and we are doing the absolute minimum of what the city requires because they will change their minds and the rules," Sahin said.
He continued: "We want to spend as little money as possible; this is already pretty expensive. And at the end of the season, we'll toss it, as it's too expensive to store and we have no room or space to store it."
Several restaurateurs said they opted out of curbside dining this time due to the new, complex, and costly process, spanning over 30 pages of rules and regulations.
Hell NO!!!
ReplyDeleteWould you prefer the space be used by cars for free parking, contributing nothing to the area? Get real
DeleteWhat is contributed? Noise, crowds and rats? I'll take a nice, quiet parked car under my window, thanks.
DeleteWhat is contributed? People enjoying life and patronizing businesses that need it? Go to the burbs!
DeleteGod forbid there be noise and crowds in New York City - you’re the one opting to live in the East Village
DeleteMaybe I was here first, by a long stretch, and don’t like loud, inconsiderate bros and woos, one year out of the burbs, treating my neighborhood like their perpetually adolescent version of Disneyland.
DeleteThe City just forced these restaurants to get rid of these structures or be fined. Which cost money to dismantle, now they have to spend again to put them back up.
ReplyDeleteAnd still they complain. The Assemblyman from Chelsea introduced a bill to make it year round. No one is forcing these places to have outdoor dining. They should quadruple the price.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s a nice compromise. No more enclosed sheds, but nice seasonal outdoor seating areas.
ReplyDeleteThere should be more outdoor dining. Council ruined this program
ReplyDeleteGood ol' Al Fresco.....I knew him from years back!
ReplyDeleteHe has always gone as Albert.
DeleteI’m so happy this is returning! It brings so much life to the street besides car storage. I hope they change the law to make it easier to install these and year round. The days are getting warmer. It’s a travesty that so much bureaucracy was piled on this
ReplyDeleteYes, it was universally loved by all except for a tiny minority of car owners, right?
DeleteI think Trump gets more approval in NYC than street dining.
Free public land for a select private type of retail. That's democracy at its finest.
Deletecalling public parking "car storage" means this person is an activist with no normal views and can't be taken seriously.
DeleteYay! Human beings can enjoy the outdoor space in Manhattan for socializing and enjoying a meal or a coffee more than free car storage. We'd rather have it *all* be a big parking lot? I don't get that view at all.
ReplyDeleteWe know the EVGrumps are against it, but humans like to eat outside when the weather is nice! NYC is a world class city, but outdoor cafes and restaurants are where we fall short.
ReplyDeleteTravel around Europe on a nice day and you'll see throngs of people enjoying outdoor cafes, most of whom are exceedingly happy. This includes people of all ages, families, etc.
New Yorkers deserve more outdoor space, full stop. This is one way for us to claim some outdoor space away from cars!
Right the EVGrumps, or the ones that are trying to sleep and have to deal with the noise. Right
Deleteyes, I have see outdoor dining in several European cities. They are clean and and follow rules. no music or drunks screaming. and they are generally in spacious areas that are not under people's windows. they are in more commercial areas. They cannot be compared.
DeleteFrom what I see here, these appear just as homemade as the pandemic ones. It looks like the rules are being followed to the very very minimum , if at all. The city should require them to file a completed report so as to send inspectors out to approve these sheds. I fear most will look just as trashy as last go round in no time and will not be constructed as per what their application showed for approval.
ReplyDeleteOr we could decide not to be insane and not always add more and more completely unnecessary red tape.
DeleteRe the backlash to the Covid era dining shacks, I'm sorry but many of the restaurant owners have no one to blame but themselves. I remember at this blog there was a rather detailed critique of them from a waiter who told a rather sordid tale of filthiness, rats, drug addicts and the homeless who took over these sheds post closing, etc., and what they had to do each day to "clean" them up which hardly touched the surface of how gross the conditions of these sheds really were. I also noticed how many of them blasted TVs (sport events) and music in direct violation of the then current rules for the sheds. The issue was not as back and white (cars parking versus people eating out) as it was portrayed to be.
ReplyDeletePeople in Europe don't eat outside in janky sheds. The streets are also much, much cleaner in many European cities. Backyard gardens and tables on sidewalks where it actually works, both fine in NYC. But these rat-infested sheds in the street should not be making a comeback.
ReplyDeleteWe who live right in the neighborhood love them! It’s a big positive change in our streetscape.
DeleteI also live right in the neighborhood and have been here since 1990—waaayyy before the newbies moved in with their infantile foodie obsessions and gauche frat house antics.
DeleteLove it. Brings the city some life. If you're cranky about it, stay inside or move. No one is forcing you to be here.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously don't live in the EV
DeleteYes the infamous "move to " post. Also in this thread the "go to the burbs" and the "get real". These 3, plus "get a life" and "get a grip" all belong in the pathetic rube hall of shame thread posts. Sad.
DeleteI’ve lived in the EV for 10 years. Try again. And yes, don’t like it? Move. It’s not hard.
DeleteI stand by my statement. The "move to" line that has been used many a time at this account is a rube line that reeks of privilege and hubris. So why don't you defend your POV by taking to task, point by point, the negative POVs that have been posted here re curbside dining?
DeleteCharming. Curious to see what this will look like in a couple months.
ReplyDeleteC&B Cafe, one of the places mentioned here, closes at 4 PM. Hopefully that won't interfere with your afternoon naps.
ReplyDeleteThese comments are the same tired troll comments from years past. There will be many fewer around this year — the number of applicants were down more than 80% since 2021.
ReplyDeleteSo, what happened to sidewalk cafes?
ReplyDeleteRemember those?
It's rather odd how that seemed to be enough for restaurant owners, patrons and the public in general. The pandemic hit and common sense went out the window.
i am here for the comments..
ReplyDelete1. It is completely unfair that the City keep giving benefit only to the restaurant sector. And not OK that restaurants can get sidewalk seating - and then get even more with street seating.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast the City has done zero for local retail and small shops - and it is retail that is really suffering in NYC.
2. More trash and rats. And no sleep for hard-working people unlucky enough to live above. (Of course affluent in high rise luxury apartments not impacted at all)
3. There are already too many restaurants and food places - and they are oversaturated and cannibalizing each other. Not everything can and should be "food".
4. Street dining is a massive visible reminder of NYC's massive inequality - affluent get to enjoy themselves sitting and eating and drinking while low-wage workers schlep by delivering Amazon, coming home from jobs at nursing homes etc.
"In contrast the City has done zero for local retail and small shops - and it is retail that is really suffering in NYC."
DeleteRemember the Small Business Jobs Survival Act* (SBJSA) that was not allowed to bought up for City Council vote? I do. Sigh.
*"The Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA), a proposed New York City law, aims to protect small businesses by regulating commercial lease renewals, potentially requiring landlords to offer 10-year lease renewals and preventing rent gouging."
A hard pass on gutter dining, no matter how cutesy the shack.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! So happy outdoor dining is back!
ReplyDelete