Q&A on timeline for outdoor dining legislative changes

Hey, Jesse.

Hi.

Hi, Jesse.

I'm just wondering, I know this bill, or versions of the outdoor dining legislation have been introduced in the past.

And that previous or soon to be previous iteration of the program is pretty controversial and it seems like there's not a lot of fans in the council of that.

So I'm wondering what took so long for this change.

Did the council just need fresh leadership?

I mean, I'll start and then I'll turn it over to Councilmember Ressler.

I mean, I, along with Councilmember Ressler and several others, when the council passed the original package, had raised a number of concerns.

I had raised the concern that I thought we should never be giving this program to DOT.

We should have given it to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which has years of experience with sidewalk cafes.

I also had raised the concern I thought it should be year-round because you're burdening these businesses, making them pay this enormous fee for six months, and then they have to store the tables and chairs.

And most restaurants do not have the space or capacity to store this equipment.

So we had raised those concerns.

The bill was passed, and then we saw what happened.

But let me turn it over to Councilmember Ressler.

Just two points.

I think...

Firstly, and I think my colleagues here would agree, that reaching consensus on the temporary program

three years ago was one of the most challenging legislative, one of the most challenging bills that we navigated in the city council under Speaker Adams.

It was very contentious and there was a wide variety of concerns.

This process has been very different.

We've reached broad consensus that the program is not working and we need to fix it and that restoring year-round outdoor dining is necessary.

I would say that this is actually a really good example of government seeing something not working and fixing it and doing it pretty quickly.

The seasonal program was passed in late 2023.

It took 12 to 18 months for it to be implemented.

And now, 12 plus months after that, we are...

Reforming it, and addressing what's not working.

That is what government should always be doing.

We should be innovating, looking at trying to solve problems, and when things are not working, we fix it.

We course correct.

And I'm really proud that with Speaker Menon's leadership, we've been able to do that here.

It's clear that the seasonal program is not financially viable for restaurants across New York City.

It's why 90% of them stop participating in it.

We're addressing that today.

Thank you.

Thanks.

off-topic questions.

I'm sorry, related.

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.

Oh, e-bikes.

Okay, great.