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(New York, NY) — Outdoor dining starts April 1st in New York City. 26-hundred restaurants have gotten the okay to assemble roadway setups under Dining Out NYC’s roadway dining program.
There are stricter guidelines for the sheds this year. They must be open-air cafes and be easy to move, clean, set up and break down. Under city law, roadway cafes can only operate from April to November but sidewalk setups are allowed year-round.
Meanwhile, there’s a call to ease up on the roadway restrictions, which were put in place after the pandemic. Manhattan Assemblyman Tony Simone is pushing a bill that would allow roadway setups year-round, saying the regulations are overburdensome for small businesses.
