September 9, 2026
by: Bria Donohue
by: Bria Donohue
Photo: NYC Mayor’s Office.
Six years after the pandemic, and finally NYC has enacted a year-round outdoor dining program, applying the lessons learned from the temporary pandemic initiative and quality streetscape measures to create a program designed for restaurants citywide to take advantage of outdoor dining. In August, the City Council passed a package of bills to reform the city’s permanent outdoor dining program, Dining Out NYC. These changes include allowing dining structures in the streets year-round, permitting street and sidewalk structures to be winterized, and adding flexibility for restaurant owners to pay program fees. Mayor Mamdani signed Int 655 to make outdoor dining year-round into law last week.
City Council Outdoor Dining Package of Legislation:
- Int 655 (Restler): A bill to expand the City’s outdoor dining program by removing seasonal restrictions on roadway café operation. This bill would also allow use of weatherproofing and winterizing materials to facilitate the operation of a roadway café year-round. The bill prohibits any DOT rule that would allow a roadway or sidewalk café to operate later than 11:00 PM daily.
- Int 894 (Brewer): A bill to allow sidewalk café operators to enclose their year-round sidewalk cafés annually from November 30 through March 31. The bill also permits weather protection materials that may be used at other times during the year, which DOT shall prescribe by rule.
- Int 917 (Sanchez): A bill to require roadway and sidewalk cafe operators to ensure that their outdoor setups are clear of trash, debris, graffiti, vermin, food scraps, and unsanitary conditions. Operators who violate this provision would be subject to civil penalties ranging from $200 for the first offense to $500 for the second and subsequent offenses.
- Int 918 (Thomas-Henry): A bill to allow sidewalk and roadway cafe operators to pay their annual revocable consent fees in quarterly installments to reduce their upfront costs.