By:  Hellen Zaboulani

Long after the pandemic’s end, New York City restaurants are still enjoying the extra space afforded to them by outdoor dining sheds.

Eateries who were creative about transforming their outdoor space into seating benefited from the rent free space, sometimes even doubling their seating capacity allowing them to rake in extra revenue.  This may come to an end, with the new rules released  last week by the Department of Transportation.

As reported by the NY Post, the rules state that all eateries who wish to have a street shed, must apply for a new operating permit next month, regardless of whether or not they currently have a permit. The rules came with 31 pages of confusing regulations, and what seems like a billion online “set-up guides”, sure to confound owners while enriching scores of lawyers and consultants.  The rules say that all the approximately 10,000 existing ‘streeteries’ must be taken down by the end of November unless owners meet all the requirements to get a new permit. The sheds must be “open-air,” easily removable, wheelchair-accessible and drainage-equipped.

They must be made of materials like fire-resistant fabric to replace solid walls and soft-top umbrellas as roofs– meaning that rain will pour in soaking diners.   This means all the nice sheds with wood walls will have to come down. Also, despite the high cost of building something new that’s also nice, all replacements to be built meeting the new rules, must still be dismantled every year between November and April for the winter.

Per the Post, the DOT regulations for the sidewalk cafes are mostly reasonable, but it starts to get really complicated for the infamous  “roadway” setups, such as in Greenwich Village.  Residents of posh buildings in the neighborhood have long been calling on the NYC council to abolish outdoor sheds there, saying the loud and messy sheds have taken up all their public space. The number of outdoor eating venues in Greenwich Village jumped from 200 to 900 over the past four years.  “Some of them don’t have 1,000 sheds in their district, which I have. Sometimes it works if it’s one restaurant every 10 blocks, but we have four outdoor sheds on one corner,”  said Christopher Marte, a City Council member who represents part of Greenwich Village, and who wants to see the sheds removed. “Last year, we could’ve had a catastrophe on Thompson Street where a fire truck couldn’t even open their doors. We have seniors who have to walk around the block to get on Access-A-Ride. This is about making a livable city.”

Still, in many neighborhoods, plenty of restaurant owners say they are willing to put up a fight to keep their existing outdoor structures.

Especially those who invested in well-built structures which actually enhanced the look of the neighborhood, like Fresco by Scotto on East 52nd Street and Donohue’s on Lexington Avenue and 63rd.  Rosanna Scotto, co-owner of Fresco by Scotto told the Post, “We have not really figured it out yet. Please let me know if you do.” Similarly, Brian Owens, a partner in Crave Fishbar and Taco Vision, said: “We are already governed by so many agencies that we are used to hiring expeditors and lawyers to navigate the confusing  rules. God knows we have enough to worry about then to try to figure out the intricacies of these new rules.”