20 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • JULY 9, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens business
Photo by Dean Moses
Expanded outdoor dining comes
to Bayside’s Bell Boulevard
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Over the holiday weekend, restaurant
owners on Bell Boulevard expanded
their outdoor dining under a new citywide
initiative that combines two popular
programs: Open Streets and Open
Restaurants.
Bell Boulevard is among the fi rst 22
locations for the program, Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced on July 2. Another
10 to 20 corridors will be approved by
Friday, July 17. Restaurants on these corridors
will be able to place seating further
away from the curb than other Open
Restaurants participants, and the remaining
street space will be open to pedestrian
traffi c.
Th e Bayside Village Improvement
District will be managing two connected
streets in Bayside as part of the program:
Bell Boulevard, between 39th and 41st
avenues; and 41st Avenue, between Bell
Boulevard and 214th Place.
Th ese streets will be fully closed
to vehicles on Friday evenings, from
5 to 11 p.m., and Saturdays, and for
expanded outdoor dining on Fridays
and Saturdays from 6 to 11 p.m. and
from noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays.
Expanded seating will last until Labor
Day (Monday, Sept. 7).
An emergency clear lane will be maintained
down the middle of the street to
make sure that the streets remain safe and
passable for emergency vehicles.
Councilman Paul Vallone was thrilled
to share the news about the initiative,
which will off er some more dine-in food
service in the open air.
“Th is gives New Yorkers a safe way
to enjoy a meal out while supporting
their favorite local eateries,” said Vallone,
who is also chair of the Committee on
Economic Development.
According to State Assemblyman
Ed Braunstein, the opening up of Bell
Boulevard for expanded outdoor dining
will “help businesses begin to recover
from the shutdown.” Meanwhile, restaurant
owners expressed joy upon hearing
the news.
“Between our customers and our
restaurant owners, it’s hard to tell who’s
happier!” said Christine Silletti, executive
director of the Bayside Village BID.
“It was important to support all of our
small businesses, so we discussed the
options as a community, as well as block
by block, in order to come up with a plan.
Council member Vallone and his staff ,
Community Board 11, and the 111th
Precinct have been super supportive of
our small businesses and their need to get
back to work (and fun) in a safe way.”
Dominick Bruccoleri, Bayside Village
BID chairman and owner of Papazzio
Restaurant, said the organization is happy
that the city allowed outdoor dining.
“We are now extremely excited that we
can expand our outside dining by closing
the streets on weekends,” Bruccoleri
said. “Th e response from the community
and our existing patrons has been not
only overwhelmingly positive, but has
also given Bell Boulevard a new face, look,
and is the place to be.”
In the meantime, the mayor said he’s
looking forward to expanding the program
in the coming weeks.
“Combining our popular Open Streets
and Open Restaurants programs will give
more New Yorkers the space they deserve
to enjoy the outdoors safely — and give
small businesses the chance to rebuild
aft er facing unprecedented challenges this
spring,” de Blasio said.
Polly Trottenberg, commissioner of
the Department of Transportation, said
they’re excited to be able to give restaurants
the additional room they need to
welcome more customers, so that they can
all work together to rebuild the key sector
of the city’s local economy in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We thank everyone from all the BIDs
and other neighborhood organizations
who made the case that expanding the
vision of our Open Streets program to
grow outdoor dining will be good for New
Yorkers’ quality of life and the city’s bottom
line,” Trottenberg said.
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