Hell's Kitchen restaurant and bar owners say they are committed to offering outdoor dining at their establishments as the city publishes an online directory of pre-approved dining establishments. . For some owners, outdoor dining, which began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains an essential lifeline to maintaining revenue.
The Department of Transportation on Monday launched an “online marketplace” for outdoor dining, featuring more than 50 items ranging from tables and chairs to prefabricated structures and installation services, all designed and manufactured by city-approved vendors. Ta.
As reported by AMNY, DOT Secretary Ydanis Rodriguez said, “With the transition to Dining Out NYC, a permanent outdoor dining program, DOT is working to make it as seamless and easy as possible for local businesses to participate in this program. “I'm here,” he said. “Our new online marketplace does just this by connecting restaurant owners with the resources they need to build beautiful, clean and creative outdoor dining setups.”
The marketplace includes renderings of multiple structures and examples already in use in five boroughs. Businesses are not required to use his DOT's marketplace, but it can serve as a guide to what the future of outdoor dining will look like.
New outdoor dining rules go into effect in March, allowing sidewalk dining year-round, while building on driveways is allowed from April to November. All seating structures must use an “open air” framework without a rigid roof. Tables and chairs must be easily movable, and all arrangements must be ADA compliant.
Current restaurant owners must apply for the new Dining Out NYC program by August 3rd to remain open this summer, and have 30 days after their application is approved by the DOT to continue operating the city's new Dining Out NYC program. Rules need to be followed. By November 1st at the latest.
Sean Hayden, owner of two Ninth Street restaurants with outdoor seating (Jasper's and Alfie's), said he plans to maintain the current dining structure as long as possible and acquire new ones in the future. Told. He's running out of storage space, so he hopes the company can buy a structure he can store it in over the winter, and he wants the new rules to be fairly and consistently enforced by inspectors.
“One thing is for sure, his business needs outdoor dining to survive,” Hayden said.
“Business is so tight at the moment that if you don’t have outdoor seating, you won’t be able to see it.” [being] It’s doable,” he told W42ST. “Our interests are [from] Outdoor seating for 22 weeks. This is our entire profit for this year. I'm grasping at straws for the rest of the year. ”
Hayden said rising operating prices and fewer customers have made it difficult to stay open over the past few years. “His Con Ed bill at Alfie's was $3,500 before the pandemic and now it's $6,500 a month. My water and sewer bill was $29,000 a year and now it's $50,000 a year. .”
Marni Halasa, co-owner of The Purple Tongue Wine Bar, agreed that outdoor dining is essential for business and stressed the need to speed up the licensing process. DOT emphasized that the licensing process could take more than six months and potentially require payments of thousands of dollars, not to mention the cost of the structure itself.
“There has to be a way to speed up the process,” Halasa said. “If you look around this city, restaurants are still hurting and remain closed even when they look busy. Restaurants are still not out of the woods post-pandemic. We need every opportunity to generate income, and we need the city’s support.”
With the new rules, Hell's Kitchen will likely lose some of its most iconic outdoor dining arrangements, including the train car design outside Dolly Varden.
Co-owner Brian Connell told W42ST: “We're sad to see it go because it was so popular, but it's not compliant so we'll have to take it down.” “But I think we can phase it out. We can remove the roof and keep most of the structure in place, at least until the winter when everything is removed.”
Hayden said he still has questions about how the DOT's program will be implemented, but is glad to see the city move forward with implementing outdoor dining.
“I understand that [in the past] People were taking away their freedom, it was an eyesore and it was attracting rats,” Hayden said. “It didn't start out well, but it's clear that no one knew what was going on.”
