24 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 22, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
The great outdoor plan
Outdoor dining might one day
be considered as the program
that saved New York City’s restaurant
THE QUEENS
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
JACOB KAYE
ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
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CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Story: City honors Kew Gardens social worker as
Mental Health Hero for supporting New Yorkers
during COVID-19 pandemic
Summary: Orkideh Yazhari, a member of the Mental
Health Service Corps at NYC Health + Hospitals/
Queens in Jamaica, was honored as a “Mental
Health Hero” by the Mayor’s Offi ce of ThriveNYC.
Reach: 3,225 (as of 10/19/20)
industry.
Aft er COVID-19 hit New York
in March, eateries across the city
had to shut down completely, or
move all dining service to takeout
or delivery only. Some closed
their doors for good; others used
the limited service to eke out a
living until the arrival of outdoor
dining in June.
Has outdoor dining restored
the city’s restaurant industry to
full health? Of course not. Th ese
businesses remained mired in
debt and weighed down by high
or overdue rents. Th ousands
of workers have lost their jobs;
hundreds of entrepreneurs lost
their livelihoods.
Th e impromptu expansion of
outdoor dining in New York did,
however, provide a lifeline to restaurants
to restart with the economy.
And thousands of eateries
jumped at the chance to make
it work, using the city streets to
create seating areas and allow
diners to safely return.
Th e program worked so well
that talk began of making outdoor
dining in New York City
a permanent fi xture on the
urban landscape. Fortunately,
the City Council agreed — and
on Th ursday, it passed legislation
moving forward a plan to
extend the program through at
least September 2021.
Th at means restaurants will
be able to off er outdoor dining
through the cold months of
fall and winter, with the assistance
of heaters. Indoor dining
remains very limited citywide,
and depending on the spread
of COVID-19 through the winter,
there’s no guarantee it will
expand anytime soon.
More importantly, the legislation
mandates that the City
Council create a permanent outdoor
dining program beyond
next September that will permit
restaurants to use roadways for
seating areas.
Th e benefi ts for restaurant
owners stand to be signifi cant
once indoor dining returns to
full capacity. An eatery could
essentially increase their seating
areas without paying a dime
more in rent, or thousands to
renovate their premises.
With more seats in place, more
customers will come and spend
their money. Th at will force the
restaurateurs to hire more staff ,
thus creating jobs. Th e increased
business will result in greater tax
revenue for the city.
In short, outdoor dining has
the potential for being part of
New York’s comeback — ushering
in a new era of enterprise,
success and prosperity to bring
us back stronger than before the
pandemic.
Photo by Dean Moses
Outdoor dining has the potential for being part of New York City’s comeback.
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