Diagram of what could be allowed through the Open Storefront Program. Image Credit: Mayor’s Office

The program is aimed to help provide more opportunities to shop safely. On October 28, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Open Storefronts program. Building on the success of the Mayor’s Open Restaurants and Open Streets program, Open Storefronts will provide safe spaces for small businesses to conduct business in the challenging economic environment while advancing Mayor de Blasio’s Recovery Agenda.

The program is expected to impact 40,000 businesses and support over 450,000 employees while providing customers with an additional option to shop in-person and locally ahead of the holiday shopping season. The Open Storefronts program began on October 30, 2020 and is set to run until December 31, 2020. (more…)

Diagram of what could be allowed through the Open Storefront Program. Image Credit: Mayor’s Office

The program provides expanded space for businesses to safely operate during the pandemic. On December 29, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the Open Storefronts Program would be extended through September 30, 2021. The Open Storefronts Program allows storefront businesses to use a portion of the sidewalk to display merchandise, complete transactions, sell goods and provide queuing areas to provide businesses with more space to expand and safely operate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will also be expanded to allow businesses to sell prepackaged food on sidewalks and allow restaurants to use sidewalks for take-out orders. 

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