![\"City](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/55067680636_fa34e4a598_o.jpg\")
City Council Speaker Julie Menin (John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really helping small business owners by fixing what was really a broken outdoor dining program and extending this to be year-round,\u201d Menin said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t want to completely ignore quality of life issues that were brought to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outdoor dining boomed during the pandemic, when, under an emergency order, thousands of restaurants put tables and chairs out on the sidewalks and streets so patrons could dine amid public health concerns and restrictions. But criticism of the outdoor dining arrangements built up, with detractors saying the spots were unsightly, dirty, and harboring rats.<\/p>\n
Participation in the program plummeted after the passage of a 2023 law that made outdoor dining permanent while also scaling it back significantly. Dining al-fresco was banned from November to April and new design criteria were imposed, with wooden dining sheds outlawed.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who sponsored the bill removing seasonal restrictions, said that lifting the burden of constructing, deconstructing and storing outdoor dining setups \u201ccould very well\u201d boost participation into the thousands.<\/p>\n
As it stands, there are around 800 outdoor dining structures in the city, he said \u2014 down from 8,000 at its peak.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what government should always be doing,\u201d he said at a press conference ahead of the vote. \u201cWe should be innovating, looking at, trying to solve problems. And when things are not working, we fix it. We course correct. And I\u2019m really proud that with Speaker Menin\u2019s leadership, we\u2019ve been able to do that here. It\u2019s clear that the seasonal program is not financially viable for restaurants across New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Mamdani is expected to sign the package of bills into law.<\/p>\n
\u201cMamdani proudly supports this much-needed legislation to improve outdoor dining and looks forward to working with City Hall to implement a year-round program that is more accessible to more restaurants and ensures our streets can be used in a variety of ways to benefit all New Yorkers \u2014 not just vehicles,\u201d Mamdani spokesperson Jeremy Edwards said in a statement.<\/p>\n