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The New York City Council easily approved legislation that makes the city’s popular COVID-era outdoor dining program permanent but will trim back rules that allowed for some controversial “shed” setups.
Lawmakers approved the measure by a vote of 43 to 6 with just one abstention during a meeting of the full Council on Thursday.
“As our city seeks to recover, this zoning change is the first step in creating a permanent program that is better organized and regulated, more equitable, and balances the health of our restaurants with the needs of local neighborhoods,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens).
The no votes were cast by Councilmembers James Gennaro (D-Queens), Robert Holden (D-Queens), Ari Kagan (D-Brooklyn), Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn), Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn) and Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn).
The program provided a crucial lifeline to struggling restaurants and bars throughout the pandemic by expanding their capacity amid social distancing restrictions.
But some who live near eateries complained about the program. The critics focused their ire on the outdoor structures many restaurants built, blasting the “sheds” as often poorly built and as magnates for crowd noise, garbage and rodents.
Officials at the Department of Transportation, which administers the program, say the changes to the rules will remove many of those sheds.
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