Since the pandemic, outdoor dining became a staple across the city. Now, as the city streamlines the permitting and building process of the dining sheds, some restaurant owners are skeptical of how well the new program will work and how it will affect their bottom line.
Restaurant owners who want to participate in the city's outdoor dining program had a Saturday, August 3 deadline to apply to renew their license or remove their current set ups.
“Outdoor dining enriches our communities, and we’re excited to make it a permanent feature of New York City streets. Our new outdoor dining program is the largest and best in America, and I encourage all interested restaurants to apply," Ydanis Rodriguez, the commissioner of the city Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for Dining Out NYC compliance, said through a press release in July.
To reapply, restaurants must pay a $1,050 fee for roadway or sidewalk setups and $2,100 for both. These fees cover a four-year license, but restaurants must also comply with new regulations, which could require some businesses to completely change their setups, adding significant additional costs. Failure to comply will result in a $500 fine for the first offense and $1,000 for subsequent breaches.
These recent mandates have left restaurateurs to make difficult decisions about whether to renew their licenses.
Edwin "Brods" Hughes, owner of Wadadli Jerk in Bedford Stuyvesant said the license renewal process is too costly.
"... to be asking small businesses to put out such a large amount of money at the forefront, I think it's a bit disparaging," said Hughes.
Adding to Hughes’ frustration, sidewalk dining will be allowed year-round, but roadway dining will be confined to an eight month period from April through November.
Brandon Aching, general manager of Greenberg’s Bagel's Bed-Stuy location, said he had issues with the seasonal confinements.
“I don't know how the city expects us to build them and then just deconstruct them. Most people don't have storage or somewhere to keep all of this,” he said.
Susan Povich, owner of Red Hook Lobster Pound, said she did not like aspects of the modular design because it has an opening at the top, allowing rain to get in. Businesses are not supposed to cover this opening with plexiglass or slats, making it difficult to offer any kind of outdoor dining when it rains, she said.
Additionally, Povich expressed doubt about how the city will enforce the mandates. “The DOT is not an enforcement agency. I worry that they won't have enough people that know the rules to regulate everything."
Further, Povich has already spent a whopping $60,000 on her current shed structure and expects that she will have to spend at least another $70,000 to build a new shed.
That said, Povich did give plaudits to the city for "trying to organize and streamline" the dining shed application process.
Meanwhile, the DOT said it received about 3,000 applications by the Saturday deadline, according to Chelsea News, indicating that outdoor dining will likley disappear over the near term.
