Restaurant Owners Unhappy with New Shed Laws; There May Be Far Fewer Next April

There could be a significant decline in dining sheds on city streets next spring, as many restaurant owners unhappy with the new permanent program have yet to apply for it. Owners that applied, but have yet to be approved, will have to take their sheds down by Nov. 1.

The Hospitality Alliance, which conducted a survey of 477 member restaurants, found 214 didn’t apply for the permanent dining program. Out of these 214, the restaurants reportedly had three overarching concerns: 40 percent said that stricter “clearance” requirements made the application “not worthwhile,” 38 percent said roadway dining would be too expensive “due to winter removal costs,” and 31 percent said that the application process was too difficult.

That discontent will mean that there will be a lot less outdoor dining sheds on city streets next spring.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were an estimated 12,500 restaurants that applied for outdoor dining sheds, according to an NYU study conducted in 2022. The city’s DOT says that some of those restaurants were double-counted, and that a more accurate tally of restaurants that genuinely used sheds at any given time would be between 6,000 and 8,000.

Either way, the city’s Department of Transportation–which administers it–said that it has received only 3,610 applications for the new regime. The application portal is still open, although an initial hard deadline of August 3 was given for this year’s season, which ends next month. This would mean that the number of interested restaurants that have applied to the new program, compared to those that participated in the pandemic-era version, has decreased by at least 50 percent.

Most of the businesses that skipped filing a new application began taking down the sheds by August 3. Businesses that don’t register, and keep their sheds up regardless, will face first-time fines of $500 and repeat-offender fines of $1,000. Accepted licenses will be valid for four years. Sidewalk sheds, which can’t obstruct roadway traffic, are allowed to stay up year-round. Approved sheds that were set up in roadways can stay up from April 29 to November 29.

“While certainly an improvement from the pre-pandemic sidewalk café law, it’s disappointing that so few restaurants applied for the new program,” Hospitality Alliance Andrew Rigie said in a statement. “It’s clear from this survey that improvements need to be made to the rules and requirements so all restaurants that want to offer alfresco dining can and are not left out.”

The DOT’s application process was indeed extensive. Owners had to submit a variety of forms–tax, insurance, and pest control forms–and ensure that sheds fell within certain measurements. On top of that, they had to pay application fees: $1,050 for a separate roadway or sidewalk shed license, and $2,100 for restaurants applying for both types of sheds. A $1,000 public hearing fee and security deposit fees– $1,500 for a sidewalk shed and $2,500 for a roadway shed–were the final levies.

In an interview conducted with Straus News around the time of the August 3 deadline, DOT Commissioner Ydannis Rodriguez said that the new rules were organized around “improving quality of life issues.” There was because some “sheds were not clean, sheds were attracting rats,” he had added. “It’s about listening to both sides.”

The new permanent program clearly aims to ensure that sheds are responsive to some community complaints, by adding some new regulations that can be cost-intensive in their own right. Roadway cafés must not block travel lanes or parking zones, for example, and must provide a “clear pathway” for pedestrians. Sidewalk sheds must follow the latter rule, by providing a clear sidewalk. Owners will also need to replace sand barriers, which became prolific during the temporary dining program, with water barriers. This is largely because the DOT eventually concluded that sand is a homing beacon for rats.

Either way, it appears that the restaurant lobby remains frustrated with the new program, with the Hospitality Alliance claiming that pandemic-era rules “worked for both small businesses and the neighborhoods they serve,” a notion that local opponents of the dining sheds program may heartily disagree with. It remains to be seen whether groups such as the Hospitality Alliance will successfully lobby for changes to permanent dining regulations.