Almost 1,000 Outdoor Dining Permits Stuck in Bureaucratic Backlog - Streetsblog New York City

"Nearly 1,000 restaurants are still waiting for their outdoor dining permits under the failed program devised by the last mayor and City Council, according to Comptroller Mark Levine, who called on the Mamdani administration to unclog the backlog. The city's fiscal watchdog has only received 1,225 applications for his approval from the Department of Transportation, as more than 900 are currently still in a bureaucratic holding pattern. Levine called on officials to speed up the process, and plans to investigate the city's cumbersome rules legislated by the City Council two years ago."

""Restaurants are struggling to cut the red tape on a slow and cumbersome permitting process," Levine wrote in a letter [ PDF] to DOT and the mayor's office. City Hall and DOT "must streamline and make more transparent their review process and approve sidewalk and roadway cafés in time for the season," he said."

"There are currently just 1,119 outdoor dining setups with full approvals, including 616 roadway and 503 sidewalk cafés, according to the latest city public data. Most of them are in Manhattan and wealthier parts of Brooklyn, similar to the more restrictive pre-pandemic sidewalk café program. An additional 1,114 are "otherwise allowed to operate," including via conditional approvals, according to a DOT spokesperson."

"Another 919 establishment are "currently working through the requirements" and aren't authorized, including 670 that are "on pause," because they haven't provided legally required information, the rep added. "These participation numbers show exactly what we warned about: seasonality and a lengthy, bureaucratic app"

Nearly 1,000 restaurants are still waiting for outdoor dining permits under a program that has produced a large backlog. The city comptroller says only 1,225 applications have been received for approval, while more than 900 remain in a bureaucratic holding pattern. The comptroller urges the administration to streamline and make the review process more transparent so sidewalk and roadway cafés can be approved in time for the season. Outdoor dining resumed after a four-month winter pause enacted in 2023. Current public data show 1,119 fully approved setups, with most located in Manhattan and wealthier parts of Brooklyn. Additional setups are otherwise allowed to operate, while others are working through requirements or are on pause for missing legally required information.

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