Modular outdoor dining sheds are coming to New York, and city officials are pushing new blueprints to help restaurants put up al fresco structures that comply with regulations.
The city Department of Transportation showed off four of the colorful model sheds outside restaurants in Manhattan and Queens on Tuesday. The sheds are wheelchair-accessible and made up of components that can easily be disassembled.
Transportation officials said the next generation of outdoor dining structures will be easier to clean, repair and remove from public space between November and April. The new designs will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to official estimates.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the nonprofit New York City Hospitality Alliance, said the new designs represent a return to the layouts of pre-pandemic outdoor dining spaces. Enclosed sheds where diners can enjoy meals during cold weather will no longer be on the streets when the new rules go into effect in November.
“Sidewalk cafes are going to go back looking like what sidewalk cafes essentially looked like before the pandemic,” Rigie said. “There’ll be less red-tape bureaucracy to get a sidewalk cafe.”
Outdoor dining became a rare shared experience during the pandemic in New York City and was a lifeline for restaurant owners struggling to stay afloat. Businesses built outdoor sheds — some of which were elaborate and elegantly maintained, while others were dingy and infested with rats — on the street through emergency measures initiated by the city. Restaurant owners were able to self-certify they were following the rules.
DOT officials said restaurant owners can access a “kit of parts” guide drafted by two local design firms to build similar sheds of their own. But they don’t need to exactly follow the guides: Officials said owners can retrofit existing sheds to meet the new requirements. They also argue the new designs cost the same as existing sheds but use better materials…
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