Photo Courtesy of John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams
By Forum Staff
The City Council on Thursday approved zoning changes to allow future outdoor dining in communities that have long been excluded from having sidewalk cafes. The changes are the first step in the City’s effort to create a permanent outdoor dining program that is better organized and balances the various considerations of neighborhoods.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City established a temporary Open Restaurants program via emergency executive order. It allowed restaurants to more easily operate sidewalk and/or roadway cafes next to their premises, including in areas of the City that had long been restricted from such opportunities. The program proved to be a lifeline for restaurants citywide, as indoor dining limitations severely reduced their operations.
Under the current zoning text, sidewalk cafes are only allowed in certain zoning districts, most of which are in Manhattan. The emergency executive order only established a temporary program for restaurants in other zoning districts, which last year brought up proposals for a citywide zoning text amendment to remove these geographic restrictions. The Council vote is a step towards establishing a local law to create a more equitable, permanent and better regulated outdoor dining program, informed by all New Yorkers.
The Open Restaurants Zoning Text Amendment: The Department of City Planning (DCP) and the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), pursuant to Section 201 of the New York City Charter, proposed an amendment of the Zoning Resolution of the City of New York, removing Article I, Chapter 4 (Sidewalk Cafe Regulations) and modifying related sections. The proposed zoning text amendment would remove the requirement for sidewalk cafés to only be located in certain zoning districts and facilitate implementation of a permanent open restaurants program following authorizing legislation by the City Council and subsequent rulemaking by a designated agency. The Council will modify this application to remove the Department of Transportation as the designated agency for rulemaking and implementation of the permanent open restaurants program and modify requirements relating to serving customers outside a building from inside a restaurant to also make them contingent on authorizing legislation by the Council. A bill for a permanent program was introduced and heard jointly with the text amendment, but is still being negotiated.
“The temporary Open Restaurants program was established at the height of the pandemic by emergency order and provided a critical lifeline to restaurants throughout the city, saving small businesses and jobs,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “As our city seeks to recover, this zoning change is the first step in creating a permanent program that is better organized and regulated, more equitable, and balances the health of our restaurants with the needs of local neighborhoods. This will require feedback and input from various stakeholders, which we will continue to gather over the coming weeks and months. I thank Chair Salamanca, Chair Riley, and Chair Velázquez for their hard work on this zoning resolution, and I look forward to working with my colleagues and New Yorkers on this important program.”
