City Council weighs big roadway-dining changes; opponents cry bill-burying

Seasonal roadway dining is scheduled to end on Saturday, but by this afternoon, the entire system could be on a path to change. 

Today, the City Council's Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection is holding its only hearing on several outdoor-dining bills that, taken together, could significantly expand where and how restaurants, bars, and even grocery stores use public space. 

Under the current rules — adopted in 2023 and launched this spring — roadway dining is seasonal, allowed only April 1 to Nov. 29, while sidewalk setups may operate year-round. 

Roadway structures must be open-air, portable and simple to assemble and dismantle.

Earlier this year, DOT estimated roughly 600 roadway dining applicants and 2,000 sidewalk applicants would operate under the new program. 

Back on Oct. 9, Council Member Lincoln Restler, whose district includes Greenpoint, Northside Williamsburg, South Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn, introduced Intro. 1421, sweeping legislation that would restore year-round outdoor dining, undoing the seasonal limit now approaching its first shutdown. 

The bill would also: 

• Eliminate seasonal restrictions on roadway cafés 

• Allow grocery stores to apply for sidewalk café licenses 

• Permit certain restaurants to extend café frontage with adjacent-owner approval

• Scale back several provisions of Dining Out NYC 

Co-sponsors include Council Members Julie Menin, Chi Ossé, Shahana Hanif, Shekar Krishnan, Keith Powers, Crystal Hudson, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. 

Resident groups raise alarms over sidewalk space and timing 

A neighborhood block association (BA) tells EVG via email that the outdoor dining bills — placed on a crowded pre-Thanksgiving agenda — were scheduled with minimal notice, reducing the window for public input. 

"This is called 'burying a bill,'" said the BA, noting that each bill receives only one hearing, making today the sole opportunity to testify. 

Among the items on today's agenda (the meeting starts at 10 a.m. at 250 Broadway, 8th floor): 

• Intro 1441-2025 — would make roadway dining year-round, allow restaurants to occupy more than their frontage on either the roadway or the sidewalk and allow grocery stores to occupy sidewalk space in front of their business

• Intro 1444-2025 — would cap the pedestrian clear path at eight feet, regardless of sidewalk width 

• Intro 1446-2025 — would establish a DOT walk-in office to help restaurants with outdoor dining applications 

The group argues that on wider sidewalks, an eight-foot clear path could leave more than 17 feet for café seating, raising concerns about pedestrian flow, accessibility and emergency access. 

One concerned EV resident told us, "So much for the existing compromise plan that hasn't even been happening for a year, and clearly a push to get this through before a new mayor and new City Council gets seated."

Anyone wishing to testify in person or via Zoom can register at council.nyc.gov/testify (choose Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection). Written testimony may be submitted up to 72 hours after adjournment. 

Open Plans supports expansion 

The new plans have a supporter in Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, who supports greater flexibility for businesses. 

In response to CM Restler's Oct. 9 introduction of the draft legislation on New York's outdoor dining program, Lind released the following statement: 

"Over the last five years, New Yorkers have demonstrated that their appetite for outdoor dining is too large to be satisfied by existing regulations. So going forward, improving, strengthening, and lengthening the program is one of the best ways to make our streets welcoming to people, not just cars. The legislation introduced today is a major, much-needed step toward restoring both the scale and year-round schedule of the original program, while preserving key reforms that have helped address prior issues that arose. By restoring year-round outdoor dining and simplifying the process for restaurants, the City Council is making it possible for more businesses to succeed and creating more time and more ways for New Yorkers to enjoy public spaces."

Meanwhile, on Saturday, we saw one local business removing its curbside space... here at Bibi Wine Bar on Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B...