EVG file photo
City Council voted last week to allow restaurants to operate roadway dining setups year-round, changing the rules of the city's permanent Dining Out NYC program.
Under the current system, sidewalk cafes may operate year-round. At the same time, roadway setups are permitted from April 1 through Nov. 29. Restaurants must dismantle and store the roadway structures during the winter months.
The legislation approved on Aug. 13 eliminates that seasonal restriction and creates a year-round roadway dining license. It also allows restaurants to use approved weatherproofing and winterizing materials.
According to the Department of Transportation, applications for year-round roadway dining will open in early September. New applicants can select either a seasonal or year-round roadway license, with the year-round option carrying additional fees.
Restaurants already participating in the program will be able to upgrade their licenses or pending applications by paying an additional fee.
Officials say the change does not bring back the largely unregulated outdoor dining structures that proliferated during the pandemic. Roadway cafes will continue to be subject to the design, siting and licensing requirements of Dining Out NYC, as well as an 11 p.m. closing time.
City Council said 1,649 restaurants currently hold fully issued outdoor dining licenses citywide.
Supporters of year-round roadway dining have argued that requiring restaurants to dismantle and store their structures every winter adds costs and discourages participation in the program. Critics of roadway dining have raised concerns about the loss of parking and curb space, sanitation, noise and the proliferation of structures on city streets.
DOT says more information about the year-round program and the application process will be available ahead of the September launch.
I'm calling Shenanigans - this is BS, we have to put up with this forever now? Not good
ReplyDeleteLIVID!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is BS. No other industry gets free handouts like the hospitality industry.. They should have to pay the same amount per square footage as their lease is for inside as a tax. Of course, all restaurants want this. It’s free money.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, our politicians cater to whoever donates the most to their campaign.
ReplyDeletePoliticians have turned into the enemy of the people. We would do better if we had Anthropic's Claude representing us.
DeleteThis is very upsetting. There needs to be a limit on how many outdoor spaces can be in a row. There are some areas where the entire block has sheds down the street and there’s no room for the fire department to directly access the building easily.
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous. All tables and chairs should be brought into the premises at the end of the day and brought out again in the morning.
ReplyDeleteIn some neighborhoods this is fine, but not in areas that are primarily residential.
ReplyDeleteDid Harvey vote for this ?
ReplyDeleteRemember all the snow last winter? They have ignored the ploughing problem. They have ignored the quality of life problem for the residents that live next to these party shacks. They have ignored the unfair advantage this gives bars and restaurants over other small businesses vital to residents. Landlords of ground level spaces will be able to charge higher rents which will drive out non-food and beverage small businesses. The bill that was passed requiring these shacks to be kept clean and rat free is window dressing. With no additional money and staff for inspections and enforcement, that is not going to be any better than before. Rats, noise, filth, overcrowded sidewalks, blocked emergency services, reduced street cleaning and snow removal, and ugly shacks. That is what our Mayor and City Council have now given the East Village year round after accepting large political donations to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be a noise enforcement agency that can revoke habitual offenders licenses that isn’t named DOT or NYPD.
ReplyDeleteThis is Bull💩!! Bad enough we’ve been losing streets to Citi bikes! Now we have to contend with these dining sheds again?? Gonna be filled with rats during the slow months and how’s it fair to businesses that have bus stops or fire hydrants in front of them?? Put this on the ballot and let the public decide!!
ReplyDeleteF U city council!!
We're not "losing" anything. Space that was disproportionately given for free to drivers is now being more equitably distributed among people. Whine all you like about losing your precious parking spots, we're moving forward as a city.
DeleteI never signed up for this "permanent outdoor dining" thing—and don't tell me to move to Dubuque if I don't like it!
ReplyDeletePeople can get take-out and delivery if they want the "picnic" experience!
This is horrible. People have an issue with cars parking at metered spaces, but no problem with these sheds blocking an entire side of an avenue?? The one thing I personally can promise is that I will NOT be patronizing any restaurant that defiles the city-scape this way.
ReplyDeleteThis is just a flat-out money-grab on the part of greedy restaurant operators, and IMO, a new form of civic corruption.
Judging by how busy these tend to get, I assure you you won't be missed. Most people that love to complain about losing parking spots are usually old people that don't frequent East Village hotspots in any case.
DeleteThe State knows what's better for you than you do. They also know where their bread is buttered. Pun intended. Get used to it.
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC news! Love outdoor dining and now that restaurants don't have to pay to put them up and take them down every year, they can make them more durable and more decorative, and the costs won't lock out smaller restaurants/bars. HUGE win for the city!
ReplyDeleteThis is nonsense. They should not allow restaurants to displace parking spaces they can make more money. Part of this deal should be that the restaurant owners who partake in this bullshit program should have to do x amount of hours of community service every week.
ReplyDeleteNever liked dining at these outdoor spaces in the winter, one side of my body is very cold (from the winter) and the other side is very hot from the heater some places use.
ReplyDeleteHaha, all the parking-fixated boomers are out in force! Guess what, outdoor dining, trash containers, sidewalk expansion, and bike lanes are all preferable to storage for your own personal property. Maybe instead of whining about restaurants using the space to improve public life complain about all the wasted money not having street parking listed at market value.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant news! More amenities for the public, more trash containers and citi bikes and outdoor dining tables please, and fewer parking places for a minority of privileged drivers who are no longer suited to city life and are better off moving to the suburbs.
ReplyDelete