Photo Courtesy of DOT
This citywide public engagement process for the coming design rules for sidewalk and roadway setups aims to promote accessibility, ensure guidelines are clear and enforceable, and address quality-of-life issues such as trash and noise.
By Forum Staff
The de Blasio administration on Thursday announced the next steps for the public to participate in the creation of design rules to that will guide the coming citywide permanent Open Restaurants program.
A survey for members of the public is available here: nycdotsurveys.info/survey/open-restaurants-survey. The City is urging all New Yorkers to consider responding by Dec. 31. A schedule of in-person and virtual public events, set for this fall and winter, is available here: https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openrestaurants.shtml.
“New Yorkers should participate and make their opinions about outdoor dining heard,” Councilman Bob Holden (D-Middle Village) said. “It’s a complicated issue and allowing our restaurants to thrive while addressing problems like parking, sanitation and safety is essential to recover from the pandemic.”
Credited with saving over 100,000 restaurants jobs during the pandemic and increasing the number of restaurants with outdoor dining – from 1,200 in February 2020 to 11,000 now – the emergency Open Restaurants program introduced novel questions about how to best integrate roadway dining setups into the complex environment of city streets.
Last week, the City Planning Commission voted to remove inequitable zoning rules that limited al fresco dining to some parts of New York City. In response to public input, the new zoning rules, which must still be approved by the City Council, will not go into effect until the Permanent Open Restaurants program, including all safety and design guidelines, are reviewed by the public and final. Alongside rigorous public input, the permanent program will be guided by coming legislation by the City Council.
This citywide public engagement process for the coming design rules for sidewalk and roadway setups aims to promote accessibility, ensure guidelines are clear and enforceable, and address quality-of-life issues such as trash and noise. Department of City Planning and the Department of Transportation intend to release a first report on design of the coming program in March 2022. After that, DCP and DOT will begin a second series of public engagement and outreach sessions to develop the final rules. The permanent program is expected to be in place by 2023.
“The incredible success of outdoor dining shows how we can reimagine our streetscape to better serve our neighborhoods,” said City Department of Transportation Commissioner Hank Gutman. “We have learned so much about how to make this overwhelmingly popular program even better, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re thrilled to start this robust conversation with the public to craft guidelines that will increase accessibility, safety and address concerns such as noise, hours of operation and sanitation.”
“While helping us to recover from a devastating pandemic, the coming citywide Open Restaurants program is a key to helping us build healthier and safer shared streets, and stronger and vibrant communities. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Fill out the survey and get involved in designing rules that will shape the look and feel of outdoor dining in New York City,” added Department of City Planning Director Anita Laremont, who also serves as chairwoman of the City Planning Commission.
