Council Member Restler on restoring year-round outdoor dining
Council Member Restler discusses the outdoor dining legislation, noting the 90% decline in restaurants offering outdoor dining after Adams-era reforms. He highlights year-round operation, design enhancements, modified operating hours, accountability metrics, and thanks Speaker Menin and staff.
Thank you, Majority Leader.
It was about three years ago that the Adams era reforms to outdoor dining were approved, and it nearly broke the outdoor dining program.
It led to a 90% decline in restaurants offering outdoor dining across the five boroughs.
And the number one reason that restaurants stopped offering outdoor dining is because we made it stupidly expensive.
Stupidly expensive to have to construct, to deconstruct, and to store outdoor dining structures.
For small neighborhood restaurants, it just didn't work.
The most salient benefit, the greatest win in this legislation to restore year-round outdoor dining, is that we anticipate thousands of additional restaurants are going to offer outdoor dining
across all of our communities, making this, adding to the vibrancy and dynamism of our neighborhoods, creating jobs.
On average, whenever a restaurant adds outdoor dining, it creates a new job.
So we have the potential of making a significant impact on our local economy.
We've also incorporated some design enhancements that allow for vertical elements and overhead structures during inclement weather and winter to make it more pleasant to eat outside.
We've modified the timing that outdoor dining structures can operate, allowing them to operate.
earlier in the morning for coffee establishments, and we've asked them to close earlier in the evening, so they have to shutter their doors by 11 o'clock and send people inside.
There's also real accountability metrics in this legislation.
If you were issued the same violation three times in a two-year period, then a restaurant's outdoor...
Dining license is revoked, which is appropriate.
I do recognize that the seasonal program has made enormous strides in improving the cleanliness of outdoor dining.
Last year, there were just 11 311 complaints for outdoor dining relating to garbage, rats, the like.
This is a really good win, and I'm really grateful for Speaker Menon championing this, and I just want to thank Jonathan from her team, Rachel, Sarah Swain, and my Chief of Staff, Molly, and lots of others.
Thank you very much.