Mamdani and Menin Blame Each Other For Delays to Fix Outdoor Dining - Streetsblog New York City

Nearly 1,000 eateries remain stuck in a lengthy permitting pipeline for outdoor dining reforms. City lawmakers are debating how to restore year-round roadway cafés while waiting for an environmental review that both sides say must be completed before legislation takes effect. The council speaker’s office says the review will not finish until the end of summer, while the mayor’s administration and the Department of Transportation have not provided a timeline. The Department of Transportation blames the council’s 2023 law for a complex application process, while the council’s office blames the agency’s rulemaking implementation. Industry leaders warn that businesses need approvals quickly to operate during spring and summer. Both the mayor and the council speaker support ending the winter ban on streeteries, but responsibility remains contested.

"Lawmakers are still debating how to restore year-round roadway cafés as they await an environmental review that both sides claim must be conducted before any legislation goes into effect, officials said. Speaker Menin's office claims that review is not expected to wrap up until the end of the summer, but the Mamdani administration and Department of Transportation have not provided a timeline for the study, as both sides continue to negotiate the details behind closed doors."

"DOT, which runs the Dining Out NYC program, blames the Council's 2023 law for the lengthy and Byzantine application process that has made it difficult for eateries to partake. Meanwhile, a representative for Menin's office said the issues stemmed from the agency's implementation of the existing law through its rulemaking."

""Business owners want to make decisions about the future and you don't want to wait so long that it goes into next year," Rigie told Streetsblog. "All these restaurants that have applied, they want to operate - it's the spring." (And summer is less than one month away.)"

"Both Menin and Mamdani's DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn are in favor of ending the winter ban on "streeteries," even as both sides of city government follow the Big Apple's well-established script for avoiding responsibility and moving nowhere fast. Fewer than 1,200 restaurants currently have full approval for outdoor dining, according to public city data, and they're mostly clustered in wealthier par"

Read at Streetsblog New York City