Mayor de Blasio today revealed 15 more locations for expanded weekend outdoor dining options, under an initiative that combines the popular Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs. Today’s announcement brings the citywide total to 62 participating streets.
The program expands restaurant seating options onto car-free streets on weekends for select corridors throughout the five boroughs. Most new locations will begin the evening of Friday, July 31st. In addition, Pell Street in Chinatown will add seating to the existing outdoor dining space on nearby Doyers Street, while Mott Street will become a shared street to help activate the new restaurant seating areas unveiled on Wednesday.
The City also announced new seating opening this weekend in four outer-borough pedestrian plazas. New plaza locations opening in this round – with exclusive seating, collective dining, and open public seating – include Fowler Square and Old Fulton Plaza in Brooklyn, along with Myrtle-Cooper and Douglaston in Queens.
“New Yorkers deserve more public space in our ongoing fight against CoViD-19, and we’re proud to offer more places to get a safe outdoor meal on the weekends,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “With two extra months of outdoor dining now approved, restaurants will have more chances than ever to get back on their feet. We are excited to build on our popular Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs, and we look forward to expanding this idea even further.”
“As we continue to expand Open Streets: Restaurants, New Yorkers across the five boroughs will be able to enjoy these transformed streets in a safe, socially distanced manner,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “Thanks to the tireless work from DOT, other partner agencies, local BIDS and community groups, restaurants can continue to find creative ways to serve their customers, while thousands of New Yorkers get back to work.”
“The last two weekends, New Yorkers have been inspired to visit some of their favorite restaurants as they safely dine outdoors on car-free streets,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We are pleased today to welcome a diverse array of new streets and plazas — from Kingsbridge in the Bronx to Chinatown in Manhattan. Mayor de Blasio’s vision has re-imagined street space to revitalize a critical industry, and I want to thank the teams from DOT, our sister agencies, BIDs and other community groups who have worked so hard to put that vision into place. Go out and eat well!”
New locations include:
| Organization | On Street | From Street | To Street | Borough |
| Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corporation | Johnson Avenue | W. 235th Street | W. 236th Street | BX |
| Montague Street BID | Montague Street | Clinton Street | Pierrepont Place | BK |
| Prospect Heights NDC | Vanderbilt Avenue | Pacific Street | Park Place | BK |
| Sunset Park BID | 5th Avenue | 45th Street | 47th Street | BK |
| Bistro Les Amis | Spring Street | Thompson Street | W. Broadway | MN |
| New York Koreatown Association | W. 32nd Street | 5th Avenue | Broadway | MN |
| Gramercy Neighborhood Associates | E. 18th Street | Park Avenue S | Irving Place | MN |
| Zouk LTD DBA Palma | Cornelia Street | Bleecker Street | W. 4th Street | MN |
| 303 Canary, LLC | Broome Street | Forsyth Street | Eldridge Street | MN |
| Chinatown BID/CCBA | Pell St | Bowery | Mott Street | MN |
| Times Square Alliance | W. 46th Street | 6th Avenue | 7th Avenue | MN |
| La Contenta | W. 11th Street | 5th Avenue | 6th Avenue | MN |
| il Buco | Bond Street | Lafayette Street | Bowery | MN |
| KC Gourmet Empanadas | Avenue B | E. 3rd Street | E. 4th Street | MN |
| Columbus Amsterdam BID | Amsterdam Avenue | W. 97th Street | W. 110th Street | MN |
The first round of Open Restaurant locations, announced July 2nd, focused on streets that were already participating in the Open Streets program, and on corridors represented by organizations that have worked with DOT on street closures in the past. The second tranche, announced July 17th, added 26 new locations. Today’s expansion comes after the Mayor announced that the City would extend in-street dining through October instead of ending it by Labor Day, giving more than 9500 participating restaurants two extra months to serve diners in safe, socially distant outdoor spaces. The hours of operation for this new expanded seating option for restaurants will be from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday nights, and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. “I’m thrilled about the expansion of this program to the Northwest Bronx and thankful for the partnership of KRVC and all of our beloved Johnson Ave restaurants in revitalizing our neighborhoods. This exciting program will maximize public space for local eateries to serve even more customers this summer and stay open to keep our communities safe and vibrant. As New York City continues on the reopening process, this is exactly the kind of creativity and innovation that will help us safely rebound,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen. “The expansion of the Open Restaurants program to include Douglaston Plaza in Northeast Queens is a great victory for our small businesses and our community,” said Council Member Paul Vallone, Chair of the Committee on Economic Development. “I thank the Douglaston LDC and Rebecca Gellos, Chris Campese, Victor Dadras and Ravi Thakur, who have been working hard to coordinate with my office and the Mayor’s team to expand this successful program to Douglaston. Let’s all celebrate by grabbing some coffee and enjoying dinner this weekend at our wonderful Douglaston Plaza!” “There are many eateries on Montague St who appreciate the opportunity to expand their footprint and offer more space for customers with its tree lined sidewalks and narrow Street it has a dramatic impact on your dining experience,” said Kate Chura, Executive Director,Montague Street Business Improvement District. “This innovative and timely New York City Program was brought to our community due to the hard work of community members, local businesses, KRVC, Community Board 8 and our dedicated local elected officials,” said Tracy McCabe Shelton, Executive Director, Kingsbridge-Riverdale-Van Cortlandt Development Corporation. “We are looking forward to implementing the Open Streets: Restaurants program on Johnson Avenue and spending our weekends serving, enriching and building our special community!” “Outdoor dining has been so important to our restaurants,” said Alexandria Sica, Executive Director, DUMBO Business Improvement District. “We are thrilled that the plazas can now be used for more opportunities and more magical moments. Pizza with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge? Sounds amazing right about now.”
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