Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that 22 new and existing open streets will become spaces for restaurants to install outdoor dining on the weekends throughout the summer, starting tomorrow.
During his Thursday morning press conference, de Blasio explained that when one great idea (Open Streets) falls in love with another great idea (Open Restaurants), they have a great idea baby: "Sometimes one great idea meets another great idea and they come together and create something even better, something really, really special," he said. "The idea of Open Streets and the idea of Open Restaurants coming together to create something very special for this summer in NYC."
With the return of indoor dining on hold because of the alarming increase in coronavirus cases around the country due to such reopening efforts, the mayor said, "We have to double down on Open Streets and Open Restaurants and bring them together to address the situation and give maximum options to our restaurants, to their employees, and also we know that people want it, we have seen incredible, incredible responses from NYC."
The 22 selected streets, which add up to 2.6 miles of open streets, will be open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday nights, and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays throughout July and August. As of now, the program will only run up until Labor Day, but de Blasio noted that "we're going to look at" continuing the program into the fall.
They include several streets that are filled with multiple restaurants, including Mulberry Street in Little Italy, Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, and Arthur Avenue in The Bronx, which was already announced earlier this week. You can see the list of initial streets below.
The city's initial offerings of open streets for outdoor dining on July 2nd, 2020
The mayor also said that the city plans to add more streets to the "Open Restaurants On Open Streets" program in the coming weeks, specifically citing Dyckman Street in northern Manhattan as one example. In a press release, the city said another 10-20 corridors will be approved beginning Friday, July 17th. They add, "Restaurants on these corridors will be able to place seating farther away from the curb than other Open Restaurants participants, and the remaining street space will be open to pedestrian traffic."
“Think about what is possible if we can make them centerpieces of outdoor dining,” de Blasio said. “It's going to open up a world of possibilities and get a lot of people back to their jobs.” (If you choose to partake, please mask up, distance, and tip well.)
So far, NYC has opened up about 67 miles of open streets in the last two months, the most in the country. The most recent expansion of the Open Streets program came in late June, when Mayor de Blasio announced that the city would restrict motorists from 23 more miles of open streets, including nine miles of temporary protected bike lanes.
Close to 7,000 restaurants have applied for permits to use sidewalk and curbside space for dining during the pandemic since the city announced that they could use outdoor space to reopen. You can also read more about how a stretch of Arthur Avenue is transforming into a piazza for outdoor dining.
Below, you can find the list of participating streets plus what local groups are running them.
Open Restaurant Streets
Brooklyn:
Dock Street: From Front Street to Water Street (Organizer: Dumbo Improvement District)
Main Street: From Plymouth Street to Water Street (Organizer: Dumbo Improvement District)
Washington Street: From Water Street to Front Street (Organizer: Dumbo Improvement District)
Anchorage Place: From Water Street to Front Street (Organizer: Dumbo Improvement District)
5th Avenue: From Dean Street to Park Place (Organizer: Park Slope 5th Avenue BID)
Reed Street: From Conover Street to Van Brunt Street (Organizer: Red Hook Business Alliance)
The Bronx:
Arthur Avenue: From East 188th St to Crescent Avenue (Organizer: Belmont BID)
Manhattan:
Doyers Street: From Bowery to Pell Street (Organizer: Chinatown BID)
East 101st Street: From Lexington Avenue to Park Avenue (Organizer: Uptown Grand Central)
Gansevoort Street: From Washington Street to West 13th St (Organizer: Meatpacking BID)
9th Avenue: From 14th Street to 15th Street (Organizer: Meatpacking BID)
13th Street: From Hudson Street to Washington Street (Organizer: Meatpacking BID)
Little West 12 Street: From 9th Avenue to Washington Street (Organizer: Meatpacking BID)
Broadway: From 25th Street to 28th Street (Organizer: Flatiron Partnership)
Orchard Street: From Delancey Street to Grand Street (Organizer: LES Partnership)
Broome Street: From Ludlow Street to Allen Street (Organizer: LES Partnership)
West 46th Street: From 8th Avenue to 9th Avenue (Organizer: Times Square Alliance)
Mulberry Street: From Hester Street to Broome Street (Organizer: Little Italy Merchants Association)
Hester Street: From Mulberry Street to Mott Street (Organizer: Little Italy Merchants Association)
Queens:
Bell Boulevard: From 39th Avenue to 41st Avenue (Organizer: Bayside Village BID)
41st Avenue: From Belle Boulevard to 214th Place (Organizer: Bayside Village BID)
Staten Island:
New Dorp Lane: From South Railroad Avenue to Hyland Boulevard (Organizer: New Dorp BID)
