New York City Council looking to make outdoor dining permanent

City Council is looking to make outdoor dining permanent.

News 12 Staff

Sep 24, 2020, 12:28 AM

Updated 1,475 days ago

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City Council is looking to make outdoor dining permanent.
Outdoor dining has helped Footprints Café make up for the loss of nearly 74 seats used for indoor dining. Diners will be allowed indoors starting next week at a limited capacity of 25%.
New York City Council is assisting struggling businesses by hoping to ease restrictions associated with outdoor dining.
"We're trying to give them more certainty in the absence of them getting it from other places and the Council is going to keep doing our best to help restaurants survive this pandemic and thrive afterwards," said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
Right now, propane heating lamps are prohibited in New York City but electric and piped gas lamps are allowed.
This new legislation would allow the use of propane powered devices to prolong outdoor dining even when COVID-19 restrictions end.
Footprints Cafe owner Robert Gordon welcomes any relief but he does say all three options are expensive and could be ineffective as the temperature drops below 60 degrees. He adds that it will be difficult for business owners to get their hands on any of these lamps right now due to inventory challenges.
"Because of the addition of outdoor dining, anything related to that whether it's umbrellas or tables or even propane tanks, there is definitely a back order on that," said owner Robert Gordon.
The council is expected to hold a hearing on the issue on Sept. 30. The final vote is expected in October.