Restaurant Owners Fear Losing $25,000 Outdoor Dining Sheds
A proposed change in zoning laws would make al fresco dining a permanent feature of New York City. If it doesn’t, restaurateurs fear losing their businesses.
Now that summer is ending, the question of outdoor dining in permanent structures is top of mind for many restaurant owners in the Big Apple.
More than 11,800 restaurants have taken advantage of the city’s Open Restaurants Program, offering dining on streets, sidewalks—or both—throughout the five boroughs. Earlier this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed an amendment that would make the program permanent, by removing restrictions on the placement of outdoor cafes. The current Open Restaurant program expires at the end of 2022, when New York is slated to begin accepting applications for permanent structures.