Council Votes to Establish Permanent Outdoor Dining Program in New York City, Building on Previous Sidewalk Café Law and Emergency Pandemic-Era Program

 

Council also votes on legislation to protect New Yorkers against lead exposure, create Office of the Homeowner Advocate, support striking actors and writers’ fight for fair contracts, reduce barriers to building environmentally friendly homes, develop a map of bicycle infrastructure, and call for state law to eliminate legacy admissions preferences at colleges in New York

The New York City Council voted to establish a newly revised permanent outdoor dining program under local law that incorporates lessons from the emergency pandemic outdoor restaurants program. It helps make the permanent program accessible and inclusive to more restaurants, similar to the temporary emergency program, while addressing concerns with more orderly and uniform regulation. The program allows for year-round outdoor dining options: 12 months of sidewalk dining, similar to the pre-pandemic program, and for the first time will allow permanent roadway dining for the warmer 8 months of the year, from April through November. The legislation eases the application process and lowers the cost of participation for restaurants, compared to the pre-pandemic program. As legal authorization of the emergency open restaurants program was determined to be expired, the Council’s approval of the permanent program assures restaurants will be able to continue with outdoor dining uninterrupted.

In addition, the Council voted on legislation that  protects New Yorkers against lead contamination, creates the Office of the Homeowner Advocate, supports the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) in calling for fair contracts, reduces barriers to building environmentally friendly homes, develops a map of bicycle infrastructure conditions, and calls for passage and enactment of State Law to prohibit legacy admissions preferences at colleges.

“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.”

Establishing a Permanent Outdoor Dining Program in New York City

Introduction 31-C, sponsored by Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, will establish a permanent outdoor dining program that incorporates benefits and lessons from the emergency pandemic-era outdoor dining program. The legislation will make it less bureaucratically prohibitive and more affordable for restaurants to participate in outdoor dining than the previous sidewalk café licensing scheme that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also create more orderly and uniform regulation of outdoor dining that provides reliable consistency for restaurants and neighborhoods alike.

Introduction 31-C will:

• Allow sidewalk cafés to operate year-round, and for the first time permanently allow roadway cafés to operate most of the year, specifically the warmer 8 months of April through November.
• Make the costs for restaurants to participate in the outdoor dining program more affordable and lower, compared to 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. “I would like to thank Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams for their support throughout this process; City Council’s Legislative Division for their dedication in drafting a bill that will meet the needs of all parties, delivering to New Yorkers by presenting legislation that makes outdoor dining a reality for all. Special thanks to Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and his team for taking on this incredible project; my colleagues at the New York City Council for their sponsorship of this bill, and the countless advocates for being a part of this moment in history.”