New Yorkers Push Back on Mayor Adams's Broken Plan for Permanent Outdoor Dining
March 24, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Yorkers Push Back on Mayor Adams’s Broken Plan for Permanent Outdoor Dining
Just released “Community Blueprint for Outdoor Dining” protects neighborhoods and supports equitable, expansive outdoor dining citywide
New York, NY (March 24, 2023) As the City Council considers legislation to make the pandemic-era outdoor dining program permanent, a citywide coalition of community organizations released their own neighborhood-friendly proposal — the Community Blueprint for Outdoor Dining.
Pushing back on the top-down, lobbyist-driven restaurant legislation favored by the Mayor, neighborhood leaders note that the proposed legislation will saddle their communities with an additional 18 months or more of the blight of unregulated roadway and sidewalk setups.
The proposed legislation also reduces Community Board input on outdoor dining sites, perpetuates the environmental harms communities have experienced under the pandemic emergency program, and, incredibly, allows for fines as low as “zero dollars” for unlicensed, illegal outdoor restaurants.
The community plan, based on more than a year of consultation with New Yorkers across the city, protects residential neighborhoods and calls for:
A seasonal sidewalk cafe program with reduced hours or operation to ensure quiet in residential areas.
Climate-friendly bans on heating and air-conditioning outdoor cafes.
Equitable sliding-scale license fees and a proportionate distribution of sidewalk cafés citywide and within neighborhoods.
An end to all roadway dining to enhance street cleaning, decrease emergency vehicle response times, and reduce rat infestations.
Restoration of the pedestrian right of way with a 12-foot minimum sidewalk width for any sidewalk café.
An end to the failed management of outdoor dining by the Department of Transportation.
Read the one-page blueprint here.
Read the detailed seven-page policy proposal here.
Contact:
Leslie Clark | 646-761-8620 Leif Arntzen | 917-930-8508
Email: cueup.ny@gmail.com