NYC Council bill to broaden street dining
In early October, NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler introduced a bill (Int 1421-2025) that “would expand the City’s outdoor dining program by allowing grocery stores to apply for a sidewalk cafe license, removing seasonal restrictions on roadway cafe operation, and providing the option to expand frontage for certain cafes upon consent. This bill would also streamline the review process for restaurants applying to operate a sidewalk or roadway cafe.” The legislation would allow dining outdoors to occur year round.
Restler stated in his newsletter sent out on November 25, “Outdoor dining was a game changer in how New Yorkers experience and enjoy our streets as public space. Modifications implemented by the Adams administration have forced restaurants to jump through arduous hurdles to participate and have dramatically reduced the number of businesses benefiting from outdoor dining by 80%.” He is hopeful that this will be passed and implemented in 2026 as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is a supporter of outdoor dining.
Dining Out NYC regulates the approval and configuration outdoor dining cafés take. A main distinction between sidewalk cafés and roadway cafés is sidewalk cafés are allowed to be open all year. Roadway cafés are currently allowed to operate from April through November.
NYC Council held hearings on the bill November 24. The 2025 season for roadway dining will end on November 29.
The Greenline 