BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The New York City Council
introduced a new bill to
allow outdoor dining on sidewalks,
streets, and other open
spaces on May 28, aiming to
give restaurateurs a lifeline
to serve customers al fresco
and at a safe social distance
amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to Speaker
Corey Johnson.
“As New Yorkers we have
so much to brag about, but our
city’s amazing and diverse
restaurants are really at the
top of everyone’s list, which
is why we must do everything
we can to help this iconic, diverse,
and now struggling
industry get through this incredibly
painful and diffi cult
time,” Johnson said at a digital
press conference.
If it were signed into law,
the bill, co-signed by the
speaker and 10 fellow city legislators,
COURIER L 16 IFE, JUNE 5-11, 2020
would allow restaurants,
bars, and food vendors
to apply with the city to use
public or private open space
for seating.
The proposed law would
have the Department of
Transportation locate suitable
spaces across the city for
outdoor seating — including
sidewalks, pedestrian plazas,
on-street parking, or other
privately-owned spaces with
the consent of the owners.
Johnson said that eateries
could use models provided by
Manhattan architect David
Rockwell, who has worked
with the nonprofi t the NYC
Hospitality Alliance to design
templates for restaurants
and bars.
Businesses will have to
apply to the Department of
Consumer Affairs — the
agency which provides sidewalk
cafe permits — to use
An illustration of outdoor seating at Negril BK in Park Slope. Rockwell Group
one of these DOT-designated
spaces, while also following
guidance on social distancing
and health and safety
regulations which the Department
of Health will formulate.
Restaurants with sidewalks
that would already
be allowed to set up seating
under the city’s zoning laws
can also apply with the DCA
to use the space without having
to go through the usual
public process involving
presentations to community
boards.
The temporary permits
would expire by October 31
or when social distancing restrictions
are lifted, whichever
comes fi rst, according
to the bill, which also states
that the DOT must post the
locations they choose online
and update the sites at least
once a week.
One Bedford-Stuyvesant
restaurant owner, however,
slammed the bill, which puts
the onus on city transportation
gurus to designate which
spaces are eligible for sidewalk
cafes, arguing that law
changes should make it easier
for them to apply for and set
up their own al fresco seating
rather than wait on city agencies
to decide where they can
and can’t move outside.
“Waiting for the city, that’s
a joke. We need to have real
tools and we need to have them
now,” said Charlotta Janssen,
the owner of Chez Oskar on
Malcom X Boulevard, who has
previously pushed for opening
public space for dining.
Dining out
City Council bill would allow
dining on sidewalks, streets
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