Restaurant tables on the streets of New York will now be permanent: what you need to know

Restaurants in New York were allowed to set up roadside cafes on the streets next to their establishments. This is good news for the restaurant industry, but it could lead to problems with parking and street cleaning. The edition writes about it AMNY.

About the initiative

City lawmakers on October 15 approved Bill 2127-A, which continues a program launched in June to develop a restaurant business in five boroughs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It will allow New York City restaurants to set up roadside cafes on the street next to their establishments. The initiative will be extended until September 2021 and then replaced with a permanent outdoor dining plan.

Legislators are also working to allow restaurants to use portable heaters on their terraces. This will allow you to serve guests in cold weather, which is especially important as winter approaches.

Brooklyn / Queens City Councilor Antonio Reynoso introduced the bill in September; another 10 legislators co-sponsored the bill. He called his adoption "a huge win for the restaurant industry and its workers," and for the townspeople, as it would boost their "morale." “New York City's outdoor dining program has been a huge success,” Reinoso said. "Now, by making the outdoor dinner permanent and allowing the use of outdoor heating lamps, my bill will allow the program to continue in the colder months."

The bill is awaiting the signature of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Recall that in March, with the outbreak of the pandemic, restaurants in New York closed their halls for guests. They continued to work only partially, delivering orders to customers at home or preparing food for pick-up.

On the subject: Restaurants in New York began to host guests in their halls

In the spring, the city council and Mayor Bill de Blasio approved a program to allow restaurants to use the area around restaurants to host guests. This has given establishments the opportunity to start serving customers again since New York entered its second opening phase on June 22.

Outdoor dining has proven to be quite popular in the face of the pandemic. Earlier in the New York City Hospitality Alliance reported that too many restaurateurs are significantly behind in rent and can pay only partial amounts to landlords.

Andrew Rigie, executive director of the alliance, welcomed the city council's approval of the bill. However, he called for federal assistance for the New York restaurant sector, which is fighting the pandemic.

Although outdoor restaurants are very popular today, the industry still needs support. Its survival depends on how safely the domestic restaurant capacity is increased to 50% soon, as well as on how quickly Congress passes the RESTAURANTS Act. The latter will create a $ 120 billion fund to help local restaurants and cover the difference between revenue from 2019 and estimated revenue for the rest of the year.

How such an initiative can turn out

Outdoor catering can be a problem for the city with parking and garbage collection. Recall that earlier funding for the Sanitation Department was cut by more than $ 100 million. As a result, the city faced environmental impact of the pandemic - garbage was lying right on the streets, and the trash cans were overflowing. This has been reported by many restaurant owners throughout the city.

For example, one of the restaurateurs in Lower Manhattan said that officials should do something about the situation outside the restaurants. For example, add more trash cans - there is only one trash can in the park near his establishment, and therefore people continue to throw garbage in the park.

Then near the city there was another problem: the restaurants did not have time to open their summer grounds and begin a gradual recovery from the crisis, as they faced an invasion of rats. Hungry rodents raided summer terraces, frightening off visitors.

In addition, because of the closed public toilets, New Yorkers began relieve themselves on the streets.