TESTIMONY: Transportation Alternatives Comment on Proposed Outdoor Dining Rules

Outdoor dining has been a boon to New York City’s small businesses and New Yorkers across the five boroughs. During the early days of the pandemic, the City’s expanded outdoor dining program saved 100,000 jobs, and in the years since the outdoor dining program has given New Yorkers more options to eat and socialize and corrected the inequities of the old sidewalk cafe program.

On Open Streets with outdoor dining, there are now more businesses than before the pandemic. As New York’s economy continues to recover from the pandemic, it is critical we support the vibrancy of our neighborhoods and local businesses. 

41% of outdoor dining restaurants are in community board districts where the majority of residents were people of color — about double the share of the pre-pandemic program, according to a recent report from NYU. The current outdoor dining program’s success in expanding where New Yorkers can eat safely outside should be invested in, not scaled back. 

Outdoor dining should be year round. A seasonal outdoor dining program is prohibitive to small restaurants, who may not have the resources to build new structures each year or store materials during the off-months. Small businesses are the fabric of our city, and we should be supporting them, not punishing them. Additionally, Sunday outdoor dining should start at 8 a.m., just like every other day of the week. 

DOT values a parking spot at up to $207 a day, or up to $6,210 for a month. This presents significant revenue opportunities for the City of New York and these funds should be reinvested in bolstering the program, such as grant funding for small businesses who might not otherwise afford outdoor dining spaces, or tree guards to protect trees next to outdoor dining structures.

Outdoor dining is an important lifeline for people with health vulnerabilities that make indoor dining prohibitive. Banning outdoor dining for a third of the year removes a safer social experience for many New Yorkers who rely on open air opportunities. We do commend DOT’s inclusion of a mandate to make the outdoor dining structures ADA-compliant, and we appreciate the clear sidewalk access provision in these proposed rules. 

As part of these proposed rules, DOT is requiring  20 feet of clearance from crosswalk to the outdoor dining setup. Keeping this space clear saves lives by increasing visibility for pedestrians, bike riders, and drivers and should be applied to every intersection in the City — included for parked cars, which the City of New York continues to override state law and allow parking up to the curb. This space can be used in ways that support the City’s broader goals, like greenery beds to mitigate flooding, or other amenities.  

In sum, we call on the City to do more to make sure outdoor dining is a successful, accessible, and joyful program for New Yorkers to enjoy.