A Version of the Pandemic-Era Outdoor Dining Program is Officially Permanent Thanks to City Council

The New York City Council has voted to establish a permanent outdoor dining program that incorporates lessons from the emergency pandemic outdoor restaurants program. 

This will make the permanent program accessible to more restaurants while addressing concerns with more orderly and uniform regulation.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor dining became a lifeline for small businesses and New Yorkers seeking socialization and normalcy,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “As we move from an emergency program to one under local law, this legislation strikes the right balance for restaurants, neighborhoods and all New Yorkers. It allows a greater number of restaurants to continue participating, while easing the bureaucratic barriers, making the licensing costs affordable, and providing orderly and uniform regulations that were missing from the temporary program. This permanent program will serve and support our neighborhoods, restaurants, residents and city for years to come.”

The program will allow for year-round outdoor dining options: 12 months of sidewalk dining, similar to the pre-pandemic program, as well as allow for permanent roadway dining for the warmer eight months of the year, from April through November.

The legislation, Introduction 31-C, sponsored by Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, eases the application process and lowers the cost of participation for restaurants, compared to the pre-pandemic program. The Council’s approval of the permanent program assures restaurants can continue with outdoor dining uninterrupted.

Introduction 31-C will:

• Allow sidewalk cafés to operate year-round, and allow roadway cafés to operate most of the year, specifically the warmer eight months of April through November.
• Make the costs for restaurants to participate in the outdoor dining program more affordable than the pre-pandemic outdoor dining licensing and revocable consent process.
• Reduce the required processes and timelines for restaurants to receive approval from city agencies and entities.
• In conjunction with zoning changes approved by the Council in 2022, permit more neighborhoods and restaurants within them to be eligible for participation in outdoor dining than the previous pre-pandemic sidewalk café program.
• Allow restaurants to continue their outdoor dining operations, even after this local law takes effect, as long as they apply for a license and submit a petition for a revocable consent on or before the date set forth by the Department of Transportation (DOT), which cannot be less than three months after the rules go into effect.
• Establish DOT as the agency to administer licensing of both sidewalk and roadway cafes and enforce rules pertaining to their operation, in continued coordination with other city agencies.
• Sheds, or any structure that does not comply with rules set by DOT, must be taken down no later than 30 days after the determination by DOT to grant or deny a revocable consent to operate a sidewalk or roadway cafe, or by November 1, 2024, whichever comes first.  

“Outdoor dining helped buoy New York City’s economy during the COVID lockdowns, and has been embraced as a creative solution to address the post-pandemic economic crisis. We have spent the past year negotiating and modifying the bill to be as inclusive and equitable as possible, meeting the needs of the different types of restaurants and eateries across our city. This was not a one-size-fits-all bill, and that’s the beauty of it. I am proud to have advocated for our small businesses throughout this process and look forward to seeing them thrive,” said Council Member Marjorie Velázquez.