NYC restaurant owners in limbo as City Council stalls on permanent outdoor dining

A year after the mayor proposed making the city's outdoor restaurant shacks permanent, very little has been done to decide the fate of the structures. And as restaurateurs prepare for the busy summer season, they're saying they have a hard time making future plans without decisions from lawmakers.

Nearly 13,000 business owners, who’ve built everything from splintery plywood benches to elaborate, art deco gazebos, are still allowed to operate their alfresco tables due to an emergency executive order put in place by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2020.

The City Council passed a zoning bill last February as a first step toward regulations, but a bill sponsored by Mayor Eric Adams to establish permanent outdoor dining rules has stalled since last year.

Council members have been mostly quiet on their plans to make the program permanent. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said on Tuesday the council is “almost there” on striking a balance between residents’ concerns and restaurant owners.

Other Council members have been more scathing in their criticism of outdoor dining. Sandy Nurse, chair of the Sanitation Committee, has said the sheds are “nests for rats” and does not want them to be permanent.

The lawmakers must decide which city agency oversees the set-ups, what fees business owners must pay to run them and which months they can operate. And city officials said the legislation must be passed before they can establish regulations for the dimensions, materials of the sheds — as well as which parts of streets and sidewalks they can occupy.

“It’s left me with a great level of uncertainty,” said Gabriel Stulman, the founder of four restaurants in the West Village and East Village, Jeffrey’s Grocery, Fairfax, Joseph Leonard and Jolene. “I don’t know how many people I’m going to employ this spring.”

Without clear guidance from the city, Stulman said he can’t offer the usual job security to prep cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and other staff as his restaurants gear up for warmer months.

Before the pandemic, Stulman ran nine restaurants. He said revenue from outdoor dining has saved him amid rising costs of labor, rent, goods and insurance.

“We would not exist without those extra seats,” he said.

Outdoor dining structures occupy less than 1% of the city’s street parking spaces, according to a report published by the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives in October 2021.

But many of the set-ups have been met with opposition. Stulman said frustrated residents living above his restaurants have blasted heavy metal out their windows and even pointed laser lights into customers’ eyes.

“There's a very vocal minority in some communities of Manhattan that are interested in curating the cityscapes in their vision, and are mistakenly believing that their vision is what the majority of their community wants,” Stulman said.

The Transportation Department monitors dilapidated outdoor sheds and has dismantled more than 200 since last summer, according to Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the agency.

“It is extraordinarily difficult for restaurateurs to plan for the future without having the certainty of how outdoor dining is going to impact their business moving forward,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, the city’s influential restaurant lobby.

Rigie said business owners are weary of investing in outdoor dining structures without knowing how long they’ll be around.

“The longer outdoor dining has gone on without proper official guidelines, rules and regulations, it’s undermined the structures because they haven't gotten the proper investment,” he said.

Stuart Waldman has lived on Bedford Street in the West Village for 35 years. He’s not among the extreme naysayers, but said outdoor dining should be regulated.

“I’m not against outdoor dining … it’s a matter of density,” Waldman said.

Waldman’s ZIP code has 183 outdoor dining structures, according to city data. He said the six on his block have become a “tipping point,” pushing residents away from the neighborhood. He said the street hasn’t been properly swept in two years and fire trucks have a hard time making it down the street. There has also been an increase in rats, he said.

“When they suggested that [the sheds] be made permanent, I thought it was one of the wackiest ideas I've ever heard,” Waldman said.

Waldman even bought a noise meter that he said logged 75 decibels inside his apartment – somewhere between a vacuum running constantly and an alarm clock.

Restaurants in neighborhoods with fewer restaurants have generally faced less opposition.

“Having [the structures] has been a godsend because it's given us the extra seating,” said Morgan Taylor, the owner of Spicy Shallot in Elmhurst, Queens.

Taylor said his restaurant’s profits are 25% lower than before the pandemic, but its two outdoor dining structures are helping “regain some ground.”

He spent $40,000 to build two wood and plexiglass seating areas, which he hopes could last another decade. The structures bring in a fourth of the restaurant’s revenue, Taylor said, thanks to large parties booking them for baby showers and wedding parties. But he said he has a contractor on call to take them down if the new regulations outlaw his structures.

Taylor said tearing them down “would absolutely be a devastating blow.”

“Because of the uncertainty we’re not really sure what we’re doing,” Taylor said.

During his State of the City speech last month, the mayor pushed the Council “to figure out how New Yorkers can enjoy outdoor dining with a permanent version that works for business and residents.”

“My Council colleagues and I are working with City agencies and the administration to create something that works across New York City,” said Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez, who introduced a bill on the issue last February. “Sometimes that takes time, but we look forward to getting this done.”