Cecil Testimony: Open Plans

So, in honor of all of the wonderful eating spaces that we have in our city and the foodie capital of the world, I would like to share just a little bit anecdotally about some of the research that we've done.

We had the opportunity to speak with dozens of businesses and visit hundreds and thousands of square feet of space to hear what has been among the pressing challenges of businesses, entrepreneurs, and pop-up shops.

Everyone who has been looking to use outdoor space in a creative way.

And uh especially as someone who started his career at SBS working on the sidewalk cafe policies with with um many folks in this room.

We find that a year-round option is among the simplest, most straightforward um recommendations that that can be taken into consideration.

And also, yes, the agency does matter.

Government and the policymakers are the ones who will be working to roll up their sleeves and put this um in action.

Also, having smaller businesses account for their size and using adjacent uh store frontage when they don't have the uh structure or the uh size to really make use of of their um eating space because I can't tell you how many places, especially in the outer boroughs where there isn't an immediate grid, have less than a thousand or even five hundred feet of space um with none of their neighbors doing anything in front of their storefronts.

So having some flexibility and how businesses use their storefront space, that would be another immediate um improvement.

And also transparency with the fees and the expenses that come up after the application process, with what materials are required and who and what and where businesses can get their materials from.

These are all things that would make it much more accessible to have a space be activated in front of their storefront.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.