You are reading

City’s Outdoor Dining Program Now Permanent and Year-Round

Bell Boulevard (Photo: Queens Post)

Sept. 25, 2020 By Allie Griffin

New York City’s popular outdoor dining initiative will now be year-round and permanent, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.

The “Open Restaurants” program, where restaurants can set up outdoor dining on sidewalks and streets, will continue into the fall and winter months, de Blasio said.

The “Open Streets: Restaurants” part of the program, in which restaurants can serve patrons at tables on specific roads closed to through traffic, will also be permanent and year-round.

According to city hall estimates, Open Restaurants has enrolled more than 10,300 establishments  and has saved roughly 90,000 jobs citywide since it began in June as a response to COVID-19.

The program was originally set to expire at the end of October, but many advocates, business owners and elected officials called on the city to continue it year-round.

De Blasio said the program will be a new tradition for New York City as it recovers from the pandemic.

“Open Restaurants was a big, bold experiment in supporting a vital industry and reimagining our public space. And it worked,” de Blasio said in a statement. “As we begin a long-term recovery, we’re proud to extend and expand this effort to keep New York City the most vibrant city in the world. It’s time for a new tradition.”

The city will also allow restaurants to expand their outdoor seating to the front of adjacent properties, which was previously prohibited. The adjacent property owners must formally agree to the use of the space for a specified period of time at no fee.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) will issue a template agreement and provide further instructions early next month, City Hall said.

Restaurants who choose to continue with outdoor dining can set up heaters and tents to keep diners warm as cooler weather arrives.

Electric heaters will be permitted on both sidewalks and roadways, while propane and natural gas heaters will require a permit from the FDNY and are only allowed on sidewalks. The city will release official guidance on the use of heaters by the end of September, City Hall said. Restaurants cannot install heaters until then.

The city has also set rules for tents. Restaurants can choose to use a partial tent where at least half of the tent’s sides are open or a full tent at 25 percent capacity in line with the indoor dining rules.

Indoor dining in New York City is set to reopen at 25 percent capacity on Sept. 30.

City Hall will work multiple city agencies and the City Council to make the regulatory changes and guidance necessary to make the program permanent, de Blasio said.

Ridgewood Council Member Antonio Reynoso said he looks forward to working with the mayor on legislation to codify the outdoor dining program into law. The City Council is set to hear his bill next Wednesday that would do just that.

“The outdoor dining program has been an unequivocal success for both businesses and the public,” Reynoso said. “Outdoor dining has not only provided a lifeline for restaurants, it has demonstrated how our public streets can be transformed to create the dynamic spaces that make New York City special.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Repeat hate crime offender charged in anti-Muslim subway attack in Forest Hills: DA

A Southeast Queens man is being held without bail after he was criminally charged with assault in the first degree as a hate crime and other charges for allegedly punching and kicking a Muslim woman on an E train in Forest Hills during the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 18.

Naved Durrni, 34, of 106th Avenue in Jamaica, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Thursday and additionally charged with aggravated harassment in the first and second degrees.

Hate Crimes Task Force investigating bomb threats against Mamdani: NYPD

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force launched a probe into multiple death threats made against Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani after his district office at 24-08 32nd St. in Astoria received four expletive-filled phone voicemails, on various dates, making threatening anti-Muslim statements by an unknown individual, including a threat to blow up his car.

The calls were made from an untraceable number and labeled the mayoral candidate a “terrorist who is not welcome in New York or America” in a message phoned in on Wednesday morning.

Seven teens indicted for attempted murder in brutal Kissena Park gang attack on two girls: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted seven teenagers for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery, and other crimes for an attack on two girls inside Kissena Park in Flushing in early May.

The defendants, who are all 17 years old, were variously arraigned in Queens Supreme Court between June 4 and Wednesday in two separate 25-count indictments with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison.

Queens Defenders founder charged with stealing nonprofit funds as second scandal unfolds

The founder of the Queens Defenders and her husband have lawyered up after they were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit organization.

Former Queens Defenders executive director Lori Zeno, 64, surrendered Wednesday at the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Zeno was arraigned on an indictment charging her and Rashad Ruhani, 55, with wire fraud conspiracy, theft, money laundering conspiracy and other crimes.