Outdoor Dining Shift Must Use NYC's 'Nooks And Crannies': Panel

NEW YORK, NY — A vision of bringing New York City restaurants outdoors to help them rebound from the coronavirus crisis will mean finding creative "nooks and crannies" of space throughout the five boroughs, officials said Friday.

Parking lots, playgrounds, sidewalks and plazas were just some of the ideas floated during a virtual panel of lawmakers and local advocates about how businesses — specifically bars and restaurants — can use outdoor space to reopen without compromising social distancing. Restaurants are part of "phase three" of the city's reopening, which is set to start its first phase June 8.

Friday's conversation followed a City Council bill meant to spur outdoor dining permits that was introduced Thursday.

But officials said a big part of making that legislation successful will be local groups and New Yorkers coming forward with ideas about where those outdoor spots can be.

"It's a big city — there's all different nooks and crannies," Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told the virtual meeting of about 200 people. "There are so many different examples and creative uses, but it's really going to take you and the city to identify where they are and how best to use them."

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Rigie specifically suggested playgrounds that aren't being used as a spot for food kiosks or "weird parking areas" next to restaurants where they can expand.

Shared streets or plazas that already host dining options during the summer can also be good options, including those that recently opened as part of the Open Streets program, Manhattan council members Keith Powers and Carlina Rivera said.

Powers said his team is already exploring how to use a pedestrian stretch of 43rd Street, Rockefeller Center and Pershing Square.

Business Improvement Districts also said they've already started looking into ideas, including using more "Street Seats" in Hudson Square or letting restaurants extend into new Open Streets in the Meatpacking District.

But they told lawmakers they worry logistical challenges like zoning restrictions and lengthy approval processes might stand in the way. Sidewalk cafes are typically restricted to certain zones and go through the months-long ULURP review process.

"We're concerned about the process of getting all this stuff approved," said Hudson Square BID President Ellen Baer.

Rivera said an important part of overcoming those obstacles will be getting Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration on board.

The City Council bill for outdoor dining was in part motivated by de Blasio's lack of a clear plan on reopening restaurants, despite the quickly-approaching end to New York City's stay-at-home order.

"That is why the Department of City Planning's involvement and the mayor will be so critical," Rivera said. "I don’t want to spend any more energy on this dance — we just want to get to the point where we toast."

The council's bill will require a great deal of cooperation from the administration. It requires the Department of Transportation to identify streets and public places where restaurants can open outdoor cafes, the Department of Health to create social distancing and cleaning protocols and the Department of Consumer Affairs to process applications from businesses.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has said that he hasn't read over the legislation but supports the idea of outdoor service as "part of the solution for restaurants and bars."

The bill will face its first hearing on June 4, where lawmakers said many of the details will be hashed out.

"We need to move out of triage mode and into proactive mode about what reopening actually looks like," Council Speaker Corey Johnson said. "We know that our streetscape and our neighborhoods are very diverse and that a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work here."

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