The new “Dining Out NYC” program is officially underway for 2025 as of April 1st.
“As we launch another season of outdoor and roadway dining, we are reaffirming our commitment to supporting small businesses, revitalizing our economy, and ensuring that every New Yorker can enjoy the benefits of a thriving and equitable dining scene,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
Dining out NYC
Learning from pandemic-era dining mistakes, this revitalized program aims to “prioritize equity and strengthen access to safe, clean outdoor dining across all boroughs. However, the lead-up to April 1st wasn’t quite so smooth.
Following issues with the restaurants‘ application process earlier this year, Ydanis Rodriguez, NYC DOT Commissioner, announced on February 28th that the agency will assist eateries working on the “cumbersome” task required by law. Per the agency, conditional approval will be granted to all roadway dining applicants that have been heard at a legally mandated public hearing. The 2,000 businesses with existing sidewalk-based outdoor dining were permitted to remain open while their applications were pending. The conditional approvals will grant nearly 3,000 sidewalk and roadway setups to operate.
“Outdoor dining on our sidewalks and roadways has been a lifeline for many restaurants, and we are cutting through red tape to ensure that thousands of restaurants will be up and running as the weather warms,” Rodriguez said in a statement.
This comes on the heels a stall in application approvals. On Wednesday, February 12th, news broke via Grub Street that out of the nearly 4,000 applications that have been submitted, the Department of Transportation allegedly only approved 40 of them to proceed. Given the news, New Yorkers assumed options would be minimal.
City Comptroller Brad Landen, who was concerned about the looming April 1st start date, promised New Yorkers he would provide weekly figures on outdoor-dining permits via social media. The DOT responded, saying one-third of the applications were unqualified, and the remaining two-thirds have moved on in the review process, and community boards and the comptroller were the ones who had to give the green light.
A brief outdoor dining history, pre “Dining Out NYC”
NYC first saw outdoor dining structures arise during the pandemic, when indoor dining was not permitted at the time. These sidewalk cafés and streeteries soon became crucial for small businesses’ success. Legislation was even passed in the summer of 2023 permitting outdoor dining for every restaurant across every neighborhood in the five boroughs, when it was almost exclusively just in Manhattan at one point.
Now, further official rules have been outlined for the city’s “Dining Out NYC” program that launched in March 2024. Learning from the mistakes made during the pandemic-era’s temporary outdoor dining program, the new execution aims for a cleaner, safer experience. First off, businesses will pay their yearly fee based off of the length and width of their new roadway/sidewalk cafe. Secondly, no new structures are allowed to be fully enclosed. Furthermore, though sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round, roadway cafes can only operate for an eight-month season from April to November.
“After several years under a temporary program, New Yorkers finally have rules to govern the future of outdoor dining,” said Maulin Mehta, New York director, Regional Plan Association. “The new program balances business and community needs to improve our streets and give all neighborhoods an opportunity to enjoy alfresco dining.”
An online application portal for “Dining Out NYC” is open to restaurants. You can find more detailed information on the new program here.
