New York City restaurant owners can now apply to join permanent outdoor dining program
NEW YORK -- New York City restaurant owners can now apply for permanent outdoor dining.
The city says Dining Out NYC will be the largest permanent outdoor dining program in the country.
"So those 12,000 restaurants that were using the roadways and sidewalks to have tables and chairs, finally they know that this is permanent, but they also will have to go through the process," New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said.
Restaurant owners that currently have temporary outdoor dining setups have until Aug. 3 to apply for a license and revocable consent.
Any restaurant participating in the temporary outdoor dining program that does not apply to join Dining Out NYC by the deadline will need to remove their structures after Aug. 3.
In February, plans were unveiled with designs for different types of structures, including for sidewalks, streets and mid-block locations.
If a restaurant's application is approved, they will then have 30 days to ensure their structure complies with the new designs. All outdoor dining setups must be in compliance by Nov. 1.
According to the Dining Out NYC website, reviews for sidewalk structures may take up to six months and reviews for roadway structures may take up to five months.
Dining structures set up in the street are allowed to operate from April 1 through Nov. 29, but they will need to be taken down from December through March. Sidewalk structures are allowed to remain up year-round.
Licenses will be valid for four years.