New York City Mayor Eric Adams opened applications for restaurants to apply for and participate in Dining Out NYC — the city’s permanent outdoor dining program. The online application portal will serve as an easy access point for restaurants to apply to participate in the program, understand the guidelines that the program establishes, and download sample blueprints from the Dining Out NYC Set-Up Menu for how an outdoor setup will need to look.
Dining Out NYC represents one of the most significant efforts of the last decade to reimagine the city’s streetscape by creating vibrant public spaces that improve quality of life for New Yorkers while simultaneously continuing to accelerate the city’s economic recovery by supporting workers and small restaurant owners. The new program draws on lessons learned from the temporary outdoor dining program created during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saved 100,000 jobs across the city but led to quality-of-life issues as a subset of restaurant owners were unable to maintain loosely-regulated outdoor dining setups.
“We’re getting outdoor dining right, getting sheds down, getting trash off our streets, and fundamentally changing what it feels like to be outside in New York City,” said Mayor Adams. “The portal we’re opening today will make it easy for restaurants to participate in Dining Out NYC, build setups that work for diners, owners, neighbors, and our city, and continue to hire workers and serve satisfied customers. We’ve locked in the best parts of the pandemic program and done away with the worst, and I can’t wait to dine out this summer!”
“New Yorkers vote with their feet — outdoor dining has been a runaway success,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Now, it’s time to formalize the program and do away with the negatives. The nation’s largest permanent outdoor dining program will have all the fun but with more consistency, cleanliness, and clear sight lines for all who use our streets.”
“The launch of the Dining Out NYC Portal and Set-Up Menu marks a significant milestone, bringing us one step closer to full implementation of the nation’s largest permanent outdoor dining program on city streets by the summer of 2024,” said New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “I am looking forward to seeing businesses across our city apply for the program and adhering to the new rules and regulations. This will enhance access to outdoor dining that is safe, clean, and rat-free in all five boroughs.”
“The old dining program had NO requirement to clean around the structures, which made the areas around them DIS-GUS-TING,” said New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “The fact that these rules correct that absurdity is a win for all New Yorkers in and of itself.”
“Ensuring that our city streets remain clean is critical to diners’ enjoyment of new outdoor spaces in every community,” said Mayor’s Office of Food Policy Executive Director Kate MacKenzie. “The new Dining Out NYC Portal represents an exciting step forward in our ability to serve the businesses we rely on to provide expanded choice to New Yorkers so they may access the healthy, culturally relevant food they want wherever they may want it.”
