MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-09-27 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Permentent Take over of Streets by resturants in
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wsj.com
New York City Restaurants Can Permanently Offer Sidewalk, Street Dining
Katie Honan
4-5 minutes
Restaurant customers dining outdoors in New York earlier in September.
Photo: Jeenah Moon/Reuters
Sept. 25, 2020 12:50 pm ET
New York City will make permanent a program that allows restaurants to
offer sidewalk and street dining, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday,
providing a much needed lifeline to an industry that has struggled
during the coronavirus pandemic.
The outdoor-dining program had been set to end on Oct. 31. The changes
announced Friday allow restaurants to use propane heaters and tents to
keep customers warm during colder months.
“I want us to really take this model and make it part of the life of New
York City for years and generations to come,” Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat,
said in a radio interview on WNYC. “This has been a really positive
experiment and it’s worked.”
The city’s restaurant industry has been under immense strain since the
pandemic hit in March and lockdown restrictions were enacted to stem the
spread of the virus. Indoor dining at restaurants has been prohibited,
with only pickup and outdoor seating allowed.
About 90% of the Duck Inn’s current revenue comes from customers
enjoying socially distant table service in their outdoor seating area.
Especially in places like Chicago where temperatures drop below
freezing, it’s one of many restaurants grappling with how to prepare for
and survive winter. Photo: Nicolas Silva for The Wall Street Journal
At least 2,800 small businesses in the city closed between March 1 and
July 10, including about 1,289 restaurants, according to an August
report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier this month that indoor dining could
resume in the city at 25% capacity on Sept. 30. But some restaurant
owners have said that they will continue to struggle at limited capacity.
Sidewalk and street dining has helped businesses stay afloat, according
to the New York City Hospitality Alliance, which represents restaurants
and nightlife establishments.
“Outdoor dining has transformed New York City’s streetscape for the
better and has been a critical lifeline for thousands of small
businesses and jobs,” the group said.
Restaurants were previously barred from using heaters for outdoor
dining. Under the new guidelines, electric heaters will be allowed on
the sidewalk and roadway-dining enclosures, while propane and natural
gas heaters will be used only on the sidewalk, according to the city.
Businesses will also be able to use tents to keep diners warm, with
restrictions on occupancy depending on how enclosed the tent is.
Restaurants have until Nov. 15 to comply with the safety regulations.
Members of the city council this week introduced a bill that called for
the permanent expansion of outdoor dining, and for allowing portable
heaters in the coldest months.
restaurants’ struggle to survive
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
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Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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