{"id":25848,"date":"2025-11-02T14:05:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25848\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T14:05:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:05:36","slug":"pedestrians-will-have-less-room-to-walk-more-room-to-eat-under-a-new-council-bill-on-sidewalk-cafe-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25848\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedestrians will have less room to walk, more room to eat, under a new council bill on sidewalk cafe paths"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"936\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f15c44b3-2566-4914-a9be-3fe2151e75d1.jpeg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"Outdoor dining space in Manhattan\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   title=\"Outdoor dining: NYC Council bill would reduce pedestrian space and expand sidewalk cafes 1\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>An outdoor dining space in Manhattan.<\/p>\n<p>Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n<p>A City Council member is working to expand the space needed for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/business-finance\/outdoor-dining-year-round-brooklyn-lawmaker-small-business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">sidewalk caf\u00e9s<\/a> by narrowing the mandated pedestrian pathways near the outdoor dining setups.<\/p>\n<p>City Council Member Keith Powers, who represents Midtown and the East Side of Manhattan, introduced on Wednesday legislation to set the clear path requirement of sidewalk cafes to no more than eight feet. The current maximum of 12 feet restricts or eliminates some existing sidewalk cafes, he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis legislation is a lifeline to small businesses that would otherwise be shut out of the city\u2019s outdoor dining program,\u201d the council member said. \u201cOn top of serving customers and making payroll each week, small businesses are bogged down with overly complicated and restrictive rules that govern outdoor dining.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said his legislation, called<a href=\"https:\/\/legistar.council.nyc.gov\/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7717528&amp;GUID=FC8802D1-41FE-4401-AEC3-652711C347B3#:~:text=Summary%3A,than%208%20feet%20in%20width.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Intro. 1444<\/a>, would \u201csimplify\u201d the rules that businesses have to follow when offering outdoor dining.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis legislation simplifies the rules, gives bars and restaurants more breathing room to succeed, and helps keep our streets vibrant and lively,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the pandemic, bars and restaurants were able to construct outdoor additions onto their storefronts that extended their businesses\u2019 interior space out into the public sidewalk.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new post-pandemic Dining Out Program, managed by the NYC <a href=\"http:\/\/nyc.gov\/dot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Department of Transportation (DOT)<\/a>, new sidewalk cafes are no longer permitted. However, those that existed prior to the pandemic are eligible to be grandfathered in. If the bill becomes law, these cafe owners would be able to operate as long as they maintain a clear path of eight feet.<\/p>\n<p>amNewYork has contacted the DOT to determine if the change is feasible and is awaiting a response.\n<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, restaurant owners applauded the move.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy restoring the clear path rule to the safe, proven standard that kept New York\u2019s sidewalks lively for decades, it strikes the right balance of protecting pedestrian space while keeping our streets vibrant, welcoming, and perfect for al fresco dining,\u201d said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The bill is currently in committee. Should the Council and mayor approve the bill, it would take effect 120 days after it becomes law.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An outdoor dining space in Manhattan. Photo by Dean Moses A City Council member is working to expand&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[16442,9,24,63,5607,16443,122,124,123,821,16444,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-25848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-city-council-member-keith-powers","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-dot","13":"tag-outdoor-dining-in-nyc","14":"tag-queens","15":"tag-queens-headlines","16":"tag-queens-news","17":"tag-restaurants","18":"tag-sidewalk-cafe-rules","19":"tag-transit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}