New York City lawmakers and business leaders are ramping up pressure to bring back the city’s year-round roadway outdoor dining program as businesses get ready to take down their set-ups ahead of winter.
Supporters of expanding outdoor dining were expected to rally Monday before a City Council oversight hearing, where lawmakers were scheduled to discuss legislation that aims to make it easier for restaurateurs to get permits and eliminate the seasonal pause on roadway cafes.
But the legislation, which was introduced earlier this fall, wouldn’t be enacted in time for businesses to legally keep their roadway structures up this winter, since the current season ends Nov. 29. Sidewalk cafes are already allowed year-round.
Outdoor dining in the city surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when officials created an emergency program that loosened restrictions and allowed 12,000 establishments to participate for free. The practice helped restaurants comply with social distancing rules while boosting their capacity and revenue during an uncertain time.
Last year, the city replaced the emergency measure with a permanent version that added new regulations and fees, and limited the program to warmer months. That change drew sharp criticism from restaurant owners, many of whom said the new process was expensive, tedious and discouraging.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said the current rules have been too restrictive and have driven away thousands of restaurants.
“The seasonality of the roadway cafe has just made it cost-prohibitive for too many small businesses in neighborhoods across the five boroughs to participate,” he said. “The cost of setting up the roadway cafe, breaking it down, storing it in the winter months, only to set it back up again is cost-prohibitive for too many small businesses, especially those kinds of neighborhood restaurants that the city wanted to participate in outdoor dining.”
The bill's sponsor, Councilmember Lincoln Restler, said he was hopeful the legislation would pass at the start of the new year, and that the incoming Mamdani administration would be friendlier than the current one to a year-round program.
“We have a mayor-elect who’s been a great advocate and supporter of outdoor dining, and the leading candidates for speaker of the City Council have been similarly, strongly supportive of outdoor dining,” he said. “I'm hopeful and optimistic that early in the new year, we'll be able to get these bills passed and, adopted and swiftly implemented.”
Anna Correa, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, touted the program as a success “despite challenges in the City Council’s handling of the outdoor dining process.”
“The Adams administration implemented the largest outdoor dining program in the country — second only to Paris globally — by cutting red tape and making it as easy as possible for restaurants to participate,” she said in a statement. “We continue to receive new applications every day.”
The bills have support from nonprofits, including the street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives and Open Plans, which promotes “people first” public spaces.
One would let grocery stores and bodegas join the program and allow some restaurants to extend their setups in front of neighboring properties, with permission. It also outlines rules for snow removal, sanitation and intersection clearances.
According to City Hall, those establishments are already able to participate if they have the proper permits.
A second bill would require the city to offer both online and in-person permit applications, and let applicants save incomplete forms to finish later.
This story has been updated to clarify the proposed legislation would allow year-round roadway dining. Sidewalk cafes are currently allowed year-round.
