Weekend dining in New York City is getting an expansion, again. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says dozens more city blocks will allow restaurants access to outdoor dining while indoor services remain suspended.
New York City's Open Streets: Restaurants program will now run until October 31, de Blasio confirmed at this daily briefing Friday. The program was previously scheduled to end in September.
8,600 restaurants around the city submitted applications to join the first round of dining establishments approved last month, the mayor said.
The outdoor expansion comes as indoor dining services remain frozen, halted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and de Blasio days before they were expected to open at the state of Phase III. The country's spike in coronavirus cases prompted the New York leaders to rethink their strategy after other states experienced outbreaks. New Jersey also put a pause on its indoor dining plans for the same reason.
The Open Streets expansion was implemented immediately, de Blasio said Friday. 40 more blocks of streets were added to the program; the majority of which are listed in Manhattan, followed by Brooklyn.
"Open restaurants program has worked. it has brought back jobs. it has been safe," de Blasio said Friday.
The streets approved by the City for the Open Streets: Restaurants program are:
MANHATTAN
- Broadway (Flatiron Partnership)
- Orchard Street (LES Partnership)
- Broome Street (LES Partnership)
- West 46th Street (Times Square Alliance)
- Mulberry Street (Little Italy Merchants Association)
- Hester Street (Little Italy Merchants Association)
- Doyers Street (Chinatown BID)
- East 101st Street (Uptown Grand Central)
- Gansevoort Street (Meatpacking BID)
- 9th Street (Meatpacking BID)
- West 13th Street (Meatpacking BID)
- Little West 12th Street (Meatpacking BID)
- Ave B (The Hairy Lemon)
- Bleecker Street (Von Design Ltd)
- Canal Street (Cervo's)
- Christopher Street (Kettle of Fish)
- Dyckman Street (Sushi Vida)
- East 20th Street (Rezdora)
- East 32nd Street (Hangawi Restaurant)
- East 7th Street (Miss Lilys)
- Jones Street (Blind Tiger)
- Lafayette Street (Osteria Morini)
- MacDougal Street (MacDougal Merchants Association)
- Pearl Street (Alliance for Downtown NY)
- Pine Street (Alliance for Downtown NY)
- Rivington Street (Rivington East Merchants Association)
- Spring Street (St Tropez Soho)
- St Marks Place (Village Alliance)
- West 22nd Street (Flatiron 23rd St Partnership)
- West 8th Street (Village Alliance)
QUEENS
- Bell Boulevard (Bayside Village BID)
- 70th Road (Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce)
- Austin Street (Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce)
- Woodside Avenue (Thai Community USA)
STATEN ISLAND
- New Dorp Lane (New Dorp BID)
BRONX
- Arthur Avenue (Belmont BID)
- Cedar Avenue (Salsa Con Fuego)
BROOKLYN
- 5th Avenue - Dean Street to Park Place
- 5th Avenue - 40th Street to 41 Street
- 5th Avenue - President Street to 3rd Street
- 5th Avenue - 10th Street to 13th Street
- Reed Street (Red Hook Business Alliance)
- Dock Street (DUMBO)
- Main Street (DUMBO)
- Washington Street (DUMBO)
- Anchorage Pl (DUMBO)
- Graham Avenue (Concord Hill)
The mayor's announcement comes one day after Cuomo detailed new restrictions for restaurants violating COVID guidance. In total, Cuomo said the state had looked at more than 5,000 restaurants in downstate New York and found "many cases of a failure to comply."
News
He invoked new regulations Thursday to better promote compliance. First, any bar or restaurant that receives three COVID protocol violations will be closed. Single egregious violations can also result in immediate shutdown. Second, those establishments can only serve people alcohol if those people also order food.
”It’s wrong, it’s dangerous, it’s selfish, it’s unacceptable, it’s also illegal," Cuomo said of ongoing violations. "If we do not enforce compliance, the virus will spread. It is that simple."
"Nobody could have expected we would be in the position we're in today. This is a second wave but it is a manmade second wave," he added, referring to the surging cases nationwide. "This is a situation where we just failed to learn the lessons of the first wave. Rather than the wave coming from the East to hit New York, the wave is going to come from the West and hit New York. There's no reason for this nation to be going through what it's going through now."
