Mayor extends timeline for Open Restaurants,
adds Open Streets in Queens neighborhoods
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JULY 24-JULY 30, 2020 5
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
The city announced it will extend
the Open Restaurants program until
the end of October, instead of the beginning
of September as originally
planned. The extension will give nearly
9,000 participating restaurants two
extra months to serve patrons in a safe
and socially distant outdoor space.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also unveiled 26
more locations for the weekend expansion
of outdoor dining options under
the recent initiative to combine Open
Streets and Open Restaurants. Three
of the 26 locations are in Forest Hills
and Elmhurst.
In Forest Hills, the Forest Hills
Chamber of Commerce will be managing
two Open Streets and Open Restaurants
— one on 70th Road, between Austin
Street and Queens Boulevard; the
other on Austin Street, between 72nd
Avenue and 72nd Road.
In Elmhurst, Thai Community USA
will manage another Open Streets and
Open Restaurants corridor on Woodside
Avenue, between 76th Street and
78th Street.
“The restaurants on 70th Road and
on Austin Street near 72nd Ave are so
excited to expand their seating with
the open street closures,” said Leslie
Brown, president of the Forest Hills
Chamber of Commerce. “The street
closure can really benefit the restaurants
and at the same time bring the
community together on these summer
evenings! I encourage everyone to
come out, invite friends and don’t forget
the other small businesses that you
know and love by supporting them!”
Open Streets and Open Restaurants
was created to expand restaurant seating
options onto car-free streets for select
business corridors throughout the
city. Restaurants on these corridors
will go further away from curb than
other Open Restaurants participants,
while the rest of the street is open to
pedestrian traffic and emergency
vehicles.
Selected corridors will be operational
on Friday from 5 to 11 p.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday from noon
to 11 p.m. The 26 new locations bring
the citywide total to 47 participating
streets as of Friday, July 17.
The city will continue to work with
the restaurant industry and community
partners to ensure there is clarity
on the guidelines for roadway seating
setups.
“Our Open Restaurants initiative
has been a tremendous team effort and
we are excited to give more restaurants
— in places like Forest Hills, Queens
and University Heights in the Bronx —
additional room to serve their customers
and put people back to work,” said
DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
“We thank Mayor de Blasio, the teams
from DOT and our sister agencies,
and all the BIDs and other neighborhood
organizations which have been
working with us to make outdoor dining
part of an expanded Open Streets
program.”
Outdoor dining, as seen at the Taverna Kyclades restaurant on Bell Boulevard, is
expanding in Queens. Photo by Dean Moses
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