Deadline looms for city’s new outdoor dining program

It’s the last call for outdoor dining setups.

Restaurant owners have until midnight Saturday to get their applications in to keep their roadside and sidewalk dining structures — or they’ll have to take them down.

Dining Out NYC is the city’s new permanent outdoor dining program. It will universalize and formalize roadside sheds and sidewalk seating after the free-for-all outdoor dining period that began during the pandemic.

“The dynamic post-COVID-19 pandemic is different than when we were in the midst of that crisis, so the need for outdoor dining has shifted,” said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. “But the love for outdoor dining, and the way that it can help these local small businesses, how it can help jobs, and how it can provide a great al-fresco dining experience to so many different people, that hasn’t changed.”

The new program offers two options: roadway dining — the sheds that are placed in the street lining the curb — and sidewalk seating.

As of Friday morning, the city’s Department of Transportation said it had received more than 2,000 applications: roughly 800 for sidewalk dining, more than 400 for roadway sheds and more than 400 for both.

Restaurants that have their application submitted can continue to use their setups as is until their applications are approved. Once approved, restaurants have 30 days to get into compliance with the program’s new guidelines, or by November, whichever comes first.

“We know that New Yorkers, visitors love dining al-fresco,” Rigie said. “We know that it’s great for local restaurants, it’s great for jobs. And we also know that the law, in so many ways, costs less for small businesses than the pre-pandemic sidewalk cafe law. Many restaurants that were never even eligible to have outdoor dining before the pandemic can now have outdoor dining.”

Prior to the pandemic, city officials say outdoor dining was limited in scope, and costly for business owners. Under the new program, permits for curbside and sidewalk seating cost $1,050 each and last for four years.

On top of that, restaurants would pay the city per square foot for sidewalk space, with rates varying depending on location. Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi spoke about the program’s accessibility in an appearance on “Mornings On 1” Friday.

“The key here is the program before COVID was so expensive, no one got to do it,” Joshi said. “And now we have a really, really market-rate amount that people have to pay.”

There is a range of criteria and guidelines to meet to be in compliance with each option. The city’s website breaks it down for restaurant owners and connects them to resources.

Restaurants that do not submit an application by the Aug. 3 deadline and still keep their existing outdoor dining structures face fines starting at $500.