Question 1: Remove Mandatory Public Hearings and Council Review for Certain Uses of Public Space Charter Amendment

If you are a fan of New York City’s outdoor dining, this amendment is an easy “yes.” The reallocation of space formerly reserved for parking of private cars for roadway dining was a small silver lining of the Covid pandemic, adding to the vibrancy of the streetscape and helping beloved small businesses keep their doors open and keep staff employed. Subsequent permanent rulemaking at the City Council standardized the process for setting up outdoor dining spaces and for the structures themselves, at first limiting their deployment to only warmer weather months. That led to a plummeting number of outdoor dining spaces given the expense of applying for them, setting them up, and then dismantling them each spring. The Council recently updated the rules to once again allow year-round dining, but the process to apply is still onerous and expensive. It takes about eight months and many thousands of dollars for restaurants to navigate the City’s Charter-mandated red tape.