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\n Not ending in November!
\n Photo: Amir Hamja\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
Have you missed the experience of eating rapidly cooling French fries while wearing a parka and a scarf? Actually, we have! And now it will return in a big way: The City Council today passed a bill lifting seasonal restrictions on streetside dining. Starting this fall, as in the pandemic years, restaurants will be able to keep their outdoor sheds up year-round.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a retreat from the restrictions put in place under the Eric Adams administration, which had formalized and limited a freewheeling program that had begun as a COVID-era lifeline for restaurateurs. Under the Adams rules, they had to dismantle their sheds from November through April. (Unenclosed sidewalk tables were allowed, however.) It was a reasonable attempt to get rid of some of the slapped-together structures that had lingered through multiple winters, growing shabbier and rattier<\/a>; it was also a concession to people who griped about losing parking spots. At the peak of the streeteries era, 12,500 restaurants had<\/a> put up outdoor sheds, according to an estimate made last year by then-comptroller Brad Lander, a number that has since fallen by more than three-quarters. \u201cThe No. 1 reason that restaurants no longer provide outdoor dining is because it is stupidly expensive to build, deconstruct, and store outdoor dining structures,\u201d Lincoln Restler, who sponsored the bill for the return of year-round outdoor sheds, told<\/a> the New York Times. The Department of Transportation\u2019s permitting backlog, which this spring reportedly<\/a> had hundreds of businesses waiting for a green light, hasn\u2019t helped. For many restaurants, those extra few seats had been a godsend even after the pandemic, allowing them to serve substantially more covers per day without paying a huge rent increase.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed streamlining the permit process, a sign that he\u2019s onboard with the legislation package. The bill will also allow restaurants to weatherproof and winterize their sheds and require restaurateurs to keep them from becoming trash- and pest-filled shanties. And not a moment too soon: We\u2019re deep enough into August to see the end of Aperol spritz season coming up over the horizon, so it\u2019s time to work up your enthusiasm for pasta-under-a-huge-gas-heater season. Bundle up!<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n