Thanks to new legislation passed by the New York City Council on Thursday, outdoor dining just got (a little) more permanent. Raised during the pandemic as restaurants were prevented from serving guests inside, the outdoor dining cabins lining many of the city’s streets served as a lifeline for bars and restaurants seeking to stay afloat. The city has since sought — and largely failed — to regulate the laws surrounding outdoor dining, as bars and restaurants have adapted their businesses to accommodate, and even depend on, its existence.
According to the new laws, bars and restaurants across the five boroughs will still be permitted to construct and utilize their outdoor dining structures, so long as they’re taken down and inactive from Nov. 30 to March 31. The legislation also dictates that restaurants can only utilize outdoor dining from 10 a.m. to midnight, and stipulates that for the first time, establishments will have to pay a fee to the city based on their location and square footage.
