They say the devil’s in the details — but the devil was out to lunch for the City Council’s approval of a permanent outdoor dining program.
Yes, it’s got lots of good things: a streamlined process to get approvals for sidewalk cafes, rule changes to bring more alfresco eateries to outside of central Manhattan and a transition period to keep outdoor setups up until their new applications are reviewed and approved by the city.
Jeffrey Banks, managing partner of Carmine’s, said, partly joking, “Thanks and gratitude to the city for its new outdoor dining program! This news is as big as Carmine’s portions.”
But what’s the timetable for it, other than a November 2024 deadline for unlicensed sheds to come down? That’s where the mysteries — and the trouble — begin.
For starters, the “compromise” bill doesn’t even say when the applications are due in. “Probably later this year or early next,” said New York City Hospitality Alliance executive director Andrew Rigie.
Why? Is the Department of Transportation too busy laying down more bike lanes to come up with a simple answer to an urgent question for restaurant owners?
In fact, the Council kicked the schedule — and almost everything else that’s important — over to the DOT, the agency that’s made our streets more chaotic than ever.
Alarmingly, the DOT, which created the ugliest “plazas” in the history of mankind, will also get to approve designs for new street sheds and perhaps even for sidewalk setups.
A rule that the pavement-based sheds can only stand from April through November, while an efficient way to get rid of many of the eyesores, will also doom most of the few sheds worth saving.
The best ones are ironically the most vulnerable, because they cost much more to build, dismantle and reconstruct.
Several, like the attractive, tropical-themed one at Fresco by Scotto, cost more than $100,000 to erect. Co-owner Rosanna Scotto doesn’t know if she can afford to keep it if it must be taken down for four months every year..
“While we hope to continue our outdoor dining, our structure is very expensive to put up and take down,” she told The Post on Thursday. “We need to evaluate all costs including rent, construction and removal.”
Maureen Donohue-Peters, owner of Donohue’s on Lexington Avenue, earlier told The Post that she’d consider closing her historic steakhouse if she were to lose her steel-and-glass street shed and predicted that owners “will not take them down and put them back up.”
If you enjoy alfresco dining, catch it while you can before the DOT takes over the menus, too.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
