NYC outdoor dining eyesores stay until 2023 — but new mayor must end it

New Yorkers who expected a swift, surgical removal of the pandemic-driven outdoor dining sheds — along with their loud, late-night music and wholesale colonization of streets and sidewalks — will be disappointed. 

The shantytowns will be with us until 2023, according to the Department of Transportation’s new “estimated time frame” to launch the permanent phase of the Open Restaurants program. This recent, overlooked DOT edict means the city must first make zoning changes before it can even submit outdoor eatery guidelines to the City Council and the mayor for final approval. 

Outdoor...