Mayor says NYC will yank away unused
outdoor dining areas, restore parking
BY BEN BRACHFELD
New York City is conducting
a canvass of outdoor
dining sites across the
fi ve boroughs to determine how
many are actually being used as
advertised, Mayor Bill de Blasio
said on Oct. 18 — noting that if
they’re not being used for dining,
the city may yank permission to
use sidewalk sheds and restore
the space’s use as a parking spot.
The mayor said at his daily
press briefi ng Monday that he’s
instructed the city’s Department
of Transportation to review the
city’s approximately 10,000
outdoor dining sites, and to warn
owners of sheds not being used
for dining that they have a matter
of days to become compliant.
“Go and review each one, go
and talk to the owners of any
place where they’re not using it
for outdoor dining, and tell them
they have a matter of days to get
right or the site should be pulled
back and opened up again for
parking,” Hizzoner said on Oct.
18. “It’s only fair.”
Andrew Rigie, executive
director of the NYC Hospitality
Alliance, a restaurant trade
group, said he supports removing
abandoned dining sheds as part of
a “permanent, standardized, and
sustainable” program.
“Open Restaurants has been a
lifeline for thousands of the city’s
restaurants, saving countless of
these small businesses, protecting
100,000 industry jobs, and enlivening
the city’s streetscapes for the
better,” Rigie said in a statement.
“Developing a permanent, standardized,
and sustainable Open
Restaurants program is essential
to the recovery of the city’s restaurant
industry, and abandoned
outdoor dining structures must
not part of this program’s future.
We support the city working with
business owners to remove vacant
and unused dining structures
across the fi ve boroughs and look
forward to continuing to work
with the city to make this critically
important program permanent.”
A spokesperson for DOT said
that the city has so far removed
24 “abandoned, non-compliant,
or destroyed” outdoor dining setups,
and has visited every single
sidewalk shed multiple times for
inspections since July 2020.
“The Open Restaurant Program
has been pivotal to NYC’s recovery,
keeping restaurants open and
saving thousands of job. We also
know that it is just as important to
ensure the program operates as it
was designed to, which includes
inspections aimed at bringing
businesses into compliance
whenever possible,” said DOT
spokesperson Alana Morales. “We
inspect setups daily and have gone
to every roadway setup multiple
times since July 2020, totaling
over 56,000 inspections. We also
encourage New Yorkers to make
complaints through 311 about any
issues with outdoor dining setups,
including structures that appear to
be abandoned.”
The mayor has been supportive
of outdoor dining, which allowed
thousands of restaurants citywide,
hammered by the pandemic and
facing potential demise, to take
over adjacent sidewalk or roadway
space and convert it to dining,
often with a sidewalk shed. His
administration is currently devising
a plan to make the “Open
Restaurants” program, which he
has credited with saving 100,000
hospitality jobs and countless restaurants
facing pandemic doom, a
permanent fi xture in the city.
“We’re happy to see restaurants
that went through hell for the last
year-and-a-half have additional
seating, have additional revenue,
have a location people like. People
like outdoor dining,” de Blasio
said Monday. “And we want to see
the restaurant community thrive
and survive in this city.”
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
Outdoor dining shacks along East 53rd Street in April 2021.
Empire State Building hosting Oktoberfest
beer pop-up with Bronx Brewery
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Toast to fall with a local
brew at the top of the
Empire State Building.
From now through Oct. 30,
the Empire State Building is
collaborating with the Bronx
Brewery to host a special Oktoberfest
pop-up on the 86th
Observatory floor. The popup
marks the first time in the
building’s history that drinks
will be served within the Observatory
Experience.
“We continue the 90th Anniversary
celebration of the
World’s Most Famous Building
this fall in partnership with
local favorite Bronx Brewery,”
said Jean-Yves Ghazi, president
of the Empire State Building
Observatory. “With the
implementation of our industryleading
indoor environmental
quality, our guests can enjoy
our new reimagined, immersive
digital and tactile exhibits with
confi dence before they relax
with an evening drink and the
most spectacular 360-degree,
open-air views that New York
City can offer.”
The brewery will offer four
different beers for sale, their
American Pale Ale, World
Gone Hazy IPA, Smile My
Guy IPA, and Das Bronx Oktoberfest.
COURTESY OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING The Empire State
com.
Building’s STATE Grill and
Bar will also offer mini New
York-style cheesecakes for $10
while supplies last.
“We are proud to join forces
with the Empire State Building
to celebrate Oktoberfest in the
heart of New York City,” said
Sean Valenti, spokesperson for
Bronx Brewery.
“Our work revolves around
community, creativity, and inclusivity,
which are all things
that come to mind when we
think of the Empire State
Building.”
The pop-up will be open
from 5 to 9 p.m. every Thursday
through Saturday as a part
of the Empire State Building’s
Observatory Experience. The
Bronx Brewery beers will be
sold at the Empire State Building
from a special 90th Anniversary
cart on the building’s
86th Floor. Tickets start at $42
and are available on the Empire
State Building website, esbnyc.
18 OOccttoobbeerr 2211,, 22002211 Schneps Mediia