Modular outdoor dining sheds are coming to New York, and city officials are pushing new blueprints to help restaurants put up al fresco structures that comply with regulations.
The city Department of Transportation showed off four of the colorful model sheds outside restaurants in Manhattan and Queens on Tuesday. The sheds are wheelchair-accessible and made up of components that can easily be disassembled.
Transportation officials said the next generation of outdoor dining structures will be easier to clean, repair and remove from public space between November and April. The new designs will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to official estimates.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the nonprofit New York City Hospitality Alliance, said the new designs represent a return to the layouts of pre-pandemic outdoor dining spaces. Enclosed sheds where diners can enjoy meals during cold weather will no longer be on the streets when the new rules go into effect in November.
“Sidewalk cafes are going to go back looking like what sidewalk cafes essentially looked like before the pandemic,” Rigie said. “There’ll be less red-tape bureaucracy to get a sidewalk cafe.”
Outdoor dining became a rare shared experience during the pandemic in New York City and was a lifeline for restaurant owners struggling to stay afloat. Businesses built outdoor sheds — some of which were elaborate and elegantly maintained, while others were dingy and infested with rats — on the street through emergency measures initiated by the city. Restaurant owners were able to self-certify they were following the rules.
DOT officials said restaurant owners can access a “kit of parts” guide drafted by two local design firms to build similar sheds of their own. But they don’t need to exactly follow the guides: Officials said owners can retrofit existing sheds to meet the new requirements. They also argue the new designs cost the same as existing sheds but use better materials that will last longer and be easier to fix.
The City Council passed legislation last year that mandated new requirements for the sheds and codified outdoor dining for the first time. But the measures faced some criticism for eliminating outdoor dining during the winter, which also meant street space would return to parking spots.
The sheds, like this one at Dawa's in Queens, can easily be dismantled.
Ground-floor restaurants can now apply for two types of outdoor dining permits: a sidewalk cafe or a roadway cafe.
Outdoor dining on the sidewalk or the street must close by midnight, according to the new rules, which also say restaurants can only keep their outdoor dining sections opened until midnight.
Meanwhile, roadway cafes must be modular, and stored during the winter.
“How are we going to get the storage costs to a reasonable rate so it’s an inclusive program and not cost-prohibitive, particularly for some smaller restaurants?” said Rigie, of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. “[This] poses logistical questions and will cost money.”
Restaurants will now also have to pay a fee to have outdoor dining. A four-year license costs $1,050 for a roadway or sidewalk permit, or $2,100 for both. There’s also an additional fee based on the size and location of the restaurant.
Restaurant owners can start applying for the outdoor dining permits on March 5, according to city officials.
“We want to make sure that restaurant owners are really clear and don’t feel like it’s very burdensome to participate in this program,” said the city's Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu as she stood outside Sunday to Sunday, a restaurant on the Lower East Side that's one of four eateries piloting the new designs. “The design guidelines and this kit of parts is all meant to sort of show that these setups will be really easy to assemble and disassemble for regular cleaning and routine maintenance.”
The restaurant's owner Gurpreet Singh said he plans to store his new outdoor dining shed at a location he already rents for storage. “We’re just starting to look into it now as restaurant owners,” he said.
Jimmy Lozano, the owner of Warique, a Peruvian restaurant in Jackson Heights that's also participating in the pilot, said it will help his business in the long term.
“The way that they designed [the outdoor dining shed], it’s going to help a lot to bring more customers and it’s more safe and easy to clean,” Lozano said.
