Countdown Begins to New York City’s New Outdoor Dining Program. Revamped Rules and Designs Herald a New Era of Sideway and Roadway Dining

In the beginning, the was the sidewalk shack. Those who wished to “dine out” could, provided they sat in a wooden covered outdoor structure with tables. The variety of shacks ranged from ones that looked like fire hazards to the “cabana” on “the terrace” that the restaurant Daniel made available to its guests.
An executive order signed by then Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2020 allowed restaurants to use municipal spaces such as streets and sidewalks to be used for outdoor dining, allowing restaurants to avert catastrophic failure and New Yorkers to enjoy their restaurant meals without the risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2.  Over time, some of these shacks became indistinguishable from their indoor counterparts, enclosed structures on roadways that resembled extensions of the establishment’s actual dining room rather than a Covid-friendly outdoor dining experience. What’s more, they lacked the ventilation and social distancing that the governor’s order had intended.
All of a sudden, there were abandoned shacks, shacks that appeared to have been used as W.C.s by the homeless, others for sexual pleasure, and yet others by addicts to shoot up.
An abandoned dining shed on Ninth Avenue between 48 and 49 Streets
Hundreds of restaurants – some of which had erected outdoor sheds – were forced to close permanently in the first two-and-a-half years of the pandemic and their abandoned sheds continue to attract debris and vermin and unwanted human guests. The city began to demolish abandoned sheds in 2022 but many managed to somehow escape this fate.
Mayor Eric Adams frequently spoke out about the “hundreds of abandoned sheds on our streets that have become havens for rats and eyesores for New Yorkers.”
In February, the city released its final menu of rules for what was to be called the Dining Out NYC program, building on a draft that was released in October 2023 as well as the Open Restaurants Program that, while a temporary salve for the restaurant industry, had led to a blight on the city’s streetscape.
An outdoor “cabana” on The Terrace, aka East 65 Street, at the restaurant Daniel
The good news is that the new rules eliminate the much maligned dining shed, once and for all.
The rules created a licensing structure that would allow open-air outdoor dining structures that are wheelchair accessible to exist in roadways from April through November. The structures, which cannot be fully enclosed, must also be of a certain size and will also have to include drainage and barriers. Sidewalk cafes would be allowed year-round.
On Wednesday, the city’s Department of Transportation announced a 60-day countdown during which restaurants could apply for the permanent outdoor dining program. Restaurants that currently have an outdoor presence must apply by August 3 or remove their current sheds and setups from the street.
The DOT said that the application approval timeline for a sidewalk cafe will be up to six months, and up to five months for roadway cafés. Once a restaurant is approved, it will have 30 days to comply with the Dining Out NYC program design requirements within 30 days of application approval. Restaurants in the current program will face fines of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offences.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)