Sign of spring: Roadway dining setups in New York City can go up next week
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Restaurants owners across New York City can start installing their curbside dining setups on city streets one week from Tuesday.
Roadway dining returns on April 1 and approved restaurants can begin setting up on March 25.
The Department of Transportation said it estimates 600 roadway dining applicants and another 2,000 sidewalk applicants will be ready to go on the start of outdoor dining season on April 1.
Those businesses are excited to have extra space to serve their customers.
"Spring is in the air and New Yorkers are ready to enjoy dining al fresco," said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "Today we're reminding all establishments with approvals to operate that they can begin constructing roadway setups next week so they're ready to serve customers on April 1."
The department says around another 600 roadway applicants have not been approved -- either because they are still in the review process or they haven't entirely completed the application.
When COVID moved all eating outside, the city had about 1,200 outdoor roadway places -- but that number is now closer to 3,000 and climbing. So the number of outdoor dining places has almost tripled.
"We're only competing with Paris now when it comes to the quantity and quality of these programs," Rodriguez said.
There are certain rules that all setups must follow -- they must be able to be picked up and cleaned under once a week with a removable floor.
Being able to remove the floor will help to clean and keep food out and rats away.
Also, the barriers can only be filled with water because rats like to burrow in the sand.
And the curb also must be clear and clean.
As established by the City Council, establishments can operate sidewalk setups year-round, while roadway dining operates seasonally, from April 1 to November 29.
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