Although the air is cold outside this week, spring has officially arrived and the portals for city restaurants to apply for Dining Out NYC, the city’s permanent outdoor dining program, has begun.
Restaurants with existing outdoor dining setups will have until August 3, to apply for the program. By November 1, restaurants must be in compliance with the new outdoor dining design requirements. In order to be eligible for the program, the establishment must be located on a ground floor visible and directly accessible from the street. Restaurant owners must pay several fees to apply, and create an account on Dining Out NYC’s online portal.
Though outdoor dining options exploded in popularity due to the pandemic, many restaurants opted to keep their setups after the pandemic’s peak. The setups are embraced by restaurant goers, but they remain controversial due to their impact on traffic, parking, pest control, and cleanliness of streets.
“We’re getting outdoor dining right, getting sheds down, getting trash off our streets, and fundamentally changing what it feels like to be outside in New York City,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a press release.
The portal will make it easy for restaurants to participate in Dining Out NYC, build setups that work for diners, owners, neighbors, and our city, and continue to hire workers and serve satisfied customers, he added.
The first iteration of the outdoor dining program was a lifeline for restaurant owners, but the challenges the setups presented were sometimes unsustainable. Ka-Wana Jefferson, the owner of Sweet Brooklyn bar in Crown Heights, fully embraced outdoor dining when the pandemic first hit.
"We would have folded without outdoor dining," said Jefferson. "Being given that option was very impactful and essential for business owners."
But after dealing with issues including parking disruptions and pests, Jefferson ended up removing the bar's outdoor setup.
"There were just a little more challenges that we would have liked as far as maintaining it," said Jefferson. The city's attempt to streamline the program has made Jefferson consider putting the outdoor setup back.
The city is attempting to standardize setup designs by offering four blueprints for outdoor setups designed by architecture firms WXY and SITU. The designs are intended to use lightweight materials for easy assembly and disassembly, and include anti-rat mitigations. The review process for sidewalk structures could take up to six months, while the review for roadway structures could take up to five months.
Officials from the Department of Transportation (DOT), who is heading the Dining Out program, and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), said at a media event last week that the new program will be mutually beneficial for customers and restaurant owners.
“What is the benefit of the community? That they are able to enjoy dinner with family in April or May in nice weather,” said DOT commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “You can choose to sit inside, but you can also say, 'Let me have dinner [outside] like you would see in an upper-class community in my working-class community.'”
