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Council Member Narcisse Questions DOT on Setup Size Flexibility and Liquor Liability Insurance

New York City Council · Apr 23, 2025 · starts 2:12:41 · 2 min 5 sec

Council Member Mercedes Narcisse asks DOT about flexibility in modifying setup sizes for struggling businesses and the requirement for additional liquor liability insurance.

Mercedes Narcisse

Um, I think um council member Bruce talking about the cleaning.

Mercedes Narcisse

How is the pavement?

Mercedes Narcisse

What's the coordination you do when the roadway is outside, and then you have to pave the road?

Margaret Forgioni

Okay, so when we're coming along to pave the road, we inform the restaurant of when we're gonna be there um to to mill the road, usually, and then come back and pave it.

Margaret Forgioni

So we know it is a disruption for the restaurant, um, and that is difficult, but that is also why we designed the setups to be movable.

Mercedes Narcisse

So we have the restaurant um move them they if they choose to in between milling and paving they can set up again we recommend that um they probably don't but they can choose to if they like to um and we'll try to keep that disturbance to a minimum for them okay now I'm gonna go back for the fees because some restaurant when the way you calculating it do you leave room or a way uh wiggle room for the restaurant owners because sometimes you can calculate it something that's what it's supposed to be and something happened where is not meeting it do you do a review with the restaurant owners to see where they at so to see we don't do reviews but um council member you're saying if something happens with the restaurant in particular they're not making it because you can make a calculation that's all great but if it's not happening for that restaurant do you give them a chance to come back so you can recalculate it we you know quickly we don't um modify those rates they're they're the standard and that's it yes okay that can be a problem um can I the liquor license okay I would just say if we've approved a certain size setup and the restaurant finds that that's not feasible for some reason long term they could come back to us we could amend their agreement and then change the rates but I think it would it would require some they would have to come to us certainly so we would know about it otherwise we would never know.

Mercedes Narcisse

Yeah I I just want the open conversation because while we trying to do the right thing, which I'm very optimistic.