NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that 9,000 restaurants are taking part in the city's Open Restaurants Program that allows them to offer outdoor dining.
The city estimates it has saved some 80,000 jobs with the program.
Mayor de Blasio announced on Monday that the program would return on June 1, 2021 to further help restaurants in New York City, and perhaps sooner should conditions allow.
The Open Restaurant Program allows restaurants to promote open space, enhance social distancing during the pandemic, and earn money and keep people employed.
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The city offers two options for temporary expanded outdoor dining:
- Open Restaurants - Individual food establishments may apply and self-certify to use the sidewalk or curb lane adjacent to their business.
- Open Streets: Restaurants - Community based organizations, BIDs or groups of three (3) or more restaurants on a single block may join together to apply online for weekend-only outdoor dining on streets closed to traffic. More information and locations can be found on the Open Streets: Restaurants program page.
The program started during Phase 2. The city says its approach prioritizes geographic equity and allows us to reach the areas most impacted by COVID-19.
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