NYC Losing Many Outdoor Dining Areas Due to Expensive New Regulations

Restaurant owners say the city’s new outdoor dining program makes it too difficult and expensive to operate al fresco setups.

1 minute read

November 5, 2024, 6:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Patrons at restaurant in New York City eating at ourdoor tables in closed-off alleyway during Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Patrons at a New York City restaurant in September 2020. | CKY / Adobe Stock

Many of New York City’s outdoor dining structures are being removed to make way for (mostly free) parking after restaurants and bars failed to make them compliant with the city’s new requirements

According to a report by Kevin Duggan in Streetsblog NYC, businesses with non-compliant designs had to take down their setups by November 1, while compliant businesses must remove them by November 29, since the outdoor dining program doesn’t apply in winter months. The new rules, which call for a public hearing for new outdoor dining applications, require that structures be easily removable and lightweight, banning fully enclosed hard structures.

Restaurant owners say the seasonal program makes operating an outdoor dining area more expensive since they must pay for removal and storage during the off-season, and many say they will stop offering outdoor dining altogether. “The numbers of sheds dropped significantly after the new regime first kicked in over the summer, with around 3,000 applications for roadway and sidewalk cafés as of late September, according to the Department of Transportation. Transportation officials estimate that the program peaked at 6,000 to 8,000 participants, including some 5,000 setups as of this summer.”

Monday, November 4, 2024 in StreetsBlog NYC

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