Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

The program will allow for outdoor dining until October 31^st. As part of the City’s efforts to reopen and protect New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, earlier this month the City announced an expansion of outdoor dining options in connection with the Open Streets program.

The Open Streets program limited vehicular traffic on specified streets to provide more open space for pedestrians and cyclists during the pandemic. As the City continued to reopen, restaurants were looking for new means to improve business until indoor dining can be reimplemented. As a result, the City created the Open Restaurants plan, which allowed restaurants to generally expand their outdoor seating onto sidewalks, curb lanes, plazas and other outdoor spaces Thousands of restaurants applied for the program and the City sought to provide more open space by using designated Open Streets to expand outdoor dining.

On July 2, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the first 22 locations for the expansion of outdoor dining options throughout the five boroughs. Since July 3, the Open Streets and Open Restaurants initiative has allowed more than 9,000 restaurants to expand their outdoor dining areas onto car-free streets every Friday from 5 p.m. – 11 p.m., and every Saturday and Sunday from noon – 11 p.m.

The program was initially supposed to run until Labor Day, but on July 17, the City extended the program until October 31 and added 26 new streets, bringing the total to 47 streets in the program.

The following streets are participating in the Open Streets program:

Bronx

Brooklyn

Manhattan

Queens

Staten Island

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Merchants Associations, and “Restaurant Groups” containing at least three food service establishments can apply for the Open Streets initiative here.

Council Member Steven Matteo described this initiative as a “win-win-win” scenario, since it supports local businesses, allows for social distancing, and gives New Yorkers a “safe outdoor place to enjoy a meal with their families on weekend nights.”

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams described this initiative as “a much-needed lifeline for restaurants struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” but also commented that he hopes to see this program expand “to areas in Brooklyn that have not historically been prioritized for safe streets and economic development initiatives, like East New York and Canarsie.”

Read the full press release here.

By: Victoria Agosta (Victoria is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2022.)