NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The city’s outdoor dining program spurred by the coronavirus pandemic is one step closer to becoming a lasting fixture.
The City Planning Commission on Monday voted unanimously to make the Open Restaurants program permanent. The vote was specifically related to a zoning text amendment that would remove geographic restrictions on sidewalk cafes.
“The necessity of moving dining outdoors during an emergency gave New York City the rare opportunity to pilot a significant land use change on a citywide scale — and in doing this to recognize the incredible vibrancy outdoor dining can bring,” Planning Commissioner Chair Anita Laremont said during the vote, “not just to Manhattan, but to all five boroughs if we enable it.”
Nothing is final just yet. The City Council will now hold a hearing and then vote on whether to make the amendment law.
The program has become a hotly contested policy across the city. It has been credited as a financial lifeline for ailing businesses during the pandemic as well as an important effort to reimagine street space for uses other than parking.
Detractors have argued the outdoor dining sheds can attract rodents, noise and trash — and sometimes swallow up too much sidewalk space.
But a permanent program would also allow the city to create new regulations and restrictions in order to make sure certain priorities — like clear sidewalk paths — are maintained.
The New York City Hospitality Alliance, which represents the city’s restaurant industry, praised the commission’s vote Monday.
“Since its inception, Open Restaurants has saved more than 100,000 industry jobs and countless small businesses from financial collapse,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the group, said in a statement, “and this yes vote is a critically important first step towards developing a sustainable future for this very popular program.”
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