It sounds cleaver but the city says not so fast.
New city rules required roadway outdoor dining sheds to be taken down by November 29.
Restaurants that keep up sheds without permits could face strict fines of $500 for a first offense, and $1,000 for any more offenses until the shed is removed.
Under legislation passed by the City Council, sheds will be allowed to go back up on April 1 and remain until Nov. 29, but it will have a much different look and feel.
The guidelines are strict - no sides, a smaller footprint, and the structures have to be easy to assemble and take down.
They will also have to be approved by the city's Department of Transportation.
L'Industrie Pizzeria came up with what they thought was a solution for more space for their customers by setting up a 'Pizza Bus' outside.
The place only fits 7 customers comfortably, so they came up with a solution.
"We saw that it was a cool idea, you know, to buy a bus and then park it legally in the street," Co-owner Massimo Lavegia said.
"When you're a small shop like this you fit 7 to 8 people and you get an extra 20 to 30 seats it makes all the world of a difference," Baglivo said.
Since October, an old bus has been parked in front of the busy pizzeria on 2nd and Williamsburg.
It's renovated with seating on the inside, lights, and solar panels on top to power the battery.
"We move like two days a week for street cleaning and it was just something natural. You know, people don't even ask. They just walk outside the pizzeria and they get inside the bus," Lavegia said.
But with more attention coming to the bus, the Department of Transportation has taken notice.
Just two weeks ago, some 13,000 restaurants were mandated to take down their outdoor dining sheds and they complied.
Co-owners Massimo Lavegia and Nick Baglivo thought they may have found a workaround.
"I mean we can't have a structure. It's not a structure. It's a legally parked car. Just so happen people to eat pizza in it," Baglivo said.
Lines of people have come to grab a slice of the popular pizza. But the Department of Transportation says even though the pizza is great, you still get a warning for the bus.
And they're not alone.
This past week, NYC DOT visited every participating food service establishment. About 90% complied and removed their roadway setups by the deadline.
136 warnings for restaurants out of compliance have been sent out since the November 29th deadline. That includes Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar on 31st in Midtown which uses a trolly to seat customers.
They too have been issued a warning.
"How all the businesses are going to afford that is going to cost you like 50 to 100,000 just for a season. It's crazy," Lavegia said.
Restaurants that keep their sheds could receive a recurring $1,000 fine. They also jeopardize their applications for the next round of seasonal roadway dining sheds in April.
"When you a small shop like this, you fit 7 to 8 people and you get an extra 20, 30 seats. It makes all the world of a difference," Baglivo said.
"It's not going to be something affordable for us to keep like 30 or 40 employees and not have enough space. You know, the business is going to slow down for sure," Lavegia said.
The owners said on a day like Wednesday with rain coming down, it would be nice to have their bus open but because of the warning from the DOT, they said they are going to keep their bus doors closed for several days.
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