Today, New York City Council is moving forward a bill to make the emergency Open Restaurants program permanent, with the Department of Transportation continuing to manage outdoor dining. Restaurants can keep using their current dining structures until November 2024, with permanent design guidelines to be released at a later date. Under the plan, roadway sheds will be permitted only from April to November, but sidewalk tables will be allowed year-round.  Design Trust for Public Space Executive Director Matthew Clarke issued the following statement in response:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, NY, — Today, New York City Council is moving forward a bill to make the emergency Open Restaurants program permanent, with the Department of Transportation continuing to manage outdoor dining. Restaurants can keep using their current dining structures until November 2024, with permanent design guidelines to be released at a later date. Design Trust for Public Space Executive Director Matthew Clarke issued the following statement in response:

“This is a win for New York City. Outdoor dining has helped to save jobs, stimulate local economies, and bring life to our city streets. This bill is an important first step to creating a permanent program that is successful in the long-term, remedies the issues with the emergency program, and will allow for new uses of our curb lane. We are encouraged to see the seasonal timeline expanded, and by crucial policy points like caps on fees so all restaurants can participate, that rulemaking will enable better design of the program, and that NYC DOT will continue to spearhead the program.”

We applaud the Mayor’s Chief Public Realm Office Ya-Ting Liu, City Council, and the entire administration for getting this done. With our Alfresco NYC Coalition, we have compiled design guidelines and policy recommendations for this permanent program, based on months of site visits, roundtable discussions, research, and individual interviews with public space and accessibility advocates. We look forward to working with the City to create an Open Restaurants program that centers design excellence.

Beyond supporting local restaurants and small businesses, the Outdoor Dining program has shown the vast potential of public space and how we can better utilize our sidewalks and curbs for community use.”

Press Contact: Alexa Mauzy-Lewis, Design Trust for Public Space Communications Manager, amauzy@designtrust.org