NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Outdoor dining setups that aren’t being used properly will be torn down and converted back into parking, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned Monday.
De Blasio said he’s asked the Department of Transportation to check all of the city’s outdoor dining setups to make sure they’re being used as they should.
“If someone's not using a space for outdoor dining, they are using it for any other need, or they're not filling the space, they're just trying to hold it, that's not acceptable,” said de Blasio.
The mayor said there’s more than 10,000 outdoor dining sites across the city currently.
Restaurants with abandoned outdoor setups will be given a warning to either start using it, or tear it down to make room again for parking, according to the mayor.
De Blasio said plans are still in motion to make the outdoor dining program a permanent one.
“We are happy to see restaurants that went through hell for the last year and a half have additional seating, have additional revenue," he said.
Restaurants are still waiting for word from City Hall on whether they’ll be able to use propane heaters to keep diners warm this winter. A special waiver that allowed them to do so last year expired over the summer.
With the winter months approaching, de Blasio pushed back against claims that the enclosed type of outdoor dining setups that keep the cold out are essentially just indoor dining.
“Whether we like it or not winter is very different than it used to be … and there's plenty of times in winter where you can have outdoor dining and with proper ventilation. And it works for people. It is a different reality than being indoors,” the mayor said.
The de Blasio administration has credited the “Open Restaurants” program for saving tens of thousands of jobs and keeping many restaurants afloat.
But the praise for the permanent program hasn’t been universal — residents have made worries known at community board meetings with fears about trash, noise and several other concerns.
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