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NY State Says Open Windows In Outdoor Dining Structures Are Not Enough. Will The City Enforce It?
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 24, 2020
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Jen Chung/Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 24, 2020
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Last week, the State Liquor Authority (SLA) and New York City released updated guidelines about outdoor dining to clarify what is and isn't allowed in the city while indoor dining is paused. This has, inevitably, resulted in more questions about the elaborate outdoor setups many restaurants have constructed in their desperate attempt to stay afloat this pandemic winter. And that includes an important detail about what constitutes a legal outdoor structure.
According to the SLA, a structure "may only be considered outdoor if it has two sides which are open air. A structure with one open side or no open sides is considered inside space and may not be used during the effectiveness of this guidance. Sides are not considered open if covered with clear plastic or other materials that restrict air flow."
The fundamental takeaway here for most restaurants is that the state wants there to be unrestricted air flow happening with these structures—as SLA spokesperson William Crowley told Gothamist this week, "with the closure of all indoor dining, we have to be careful and ensure restaurants are not recreating indoor dining outdoors."
However, many restaurants in the city have interpreted this to mean that by opening up windows or individual sections of their outdoor dining structures, rather than taking out an entire side, they are operating within the rules. Crowley says that isn't so: "As open windows do not constitute an open side, a structure with only one open side and windows on another does not meet the definition of an outdoor space. This definition of 'outdoor space' has been in place since June." (Note: individual plastic bubbles or pods are allowed because they are supposed to only be used for individual parties.)
The definition has been in place—though it was previously defined by NYC as "50% open" and is now explicitly "two sides"—but according to multiple restaurant owners and workers, that hasn't necessarily been followed or enforced. Many restaurants have been operating in a gray area with their outdoor structures in an attempt to attract diners during the most frigid months of the year. That includes using heaters, giving out blankets, decorating the spaces, and yes, enclosing them more than COVID-19 restrictions allow.
It speaks to the ongoing confusion about the rules that no restaurant owner Gothamist spoke to had any idea opening the windows was not sufficient enough to provide air flow—or that they could be in danger of penalties for not revamping or deconstructing their structures.
"Every day they change the rules," the manager of Il Violino told Gothamist. "But it seems like there's no one who really knows the rules, that's the thing. Someone could come and say, 'No that's not allowed,' and we'll remove it. But the idea is that air circulates, so if you open the windows it can move through."
“Many restaurateurs have been confused by the rules and they’re doing their best to comply with the regulations and survive all while government has failed to provide them adequate support," Andrew Rigie, head of the NYC Hospitality Alliance told Gothamist. “Some outdoor structures have built in features that allow for air circulation but may not strictly adhere to the guidelines, which could be changed. But, so much of the situation has angered and frustrated small business owners in New York City because they don’t understand how a partially open outdoor dining structure with air circulation can be prohibited, while restaurants have fully enclosed indoor dining at 50% occupancy elsewhere in the state where the infection and hospitalization rates are much higher.”
Several outdoor dining structures at The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers’ Row
New Kingston Media
At a time when NYC restaurants have very limited options of how to keep their businesses afloat, with no federal funding on the horizon and the toughest season of the year ahead, restaurants are looking for as many options as possible.
Just this week, a group of local Black-owned restaurants, community organizations, and architecture firms collaborated to open up a heated outdoor dining setup along a two-block stretch in Harlem, called The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers’ Row. This is an ideal project for the pandemic era, in which locals are working together to help struggling small businesses—the kind of initiative the city might highlight and salute for its innovation.
The architecture firms, who created the structures free-of-cost for the restaurants, told Eater they designed the outdoor dining structures in such a way that "at least 50 percent of the space allows for airflow." But as you can see in the photos above and below, many of them don't actually have open sides, instead relying on small window-like open areas.
The front of some of the outdoor dining structures at The Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers’ Row
New Kingston Media
Enforcement of the state guidelines rests with the city, not the state. It's not clear if this is the kind of task where the Sheriff's Office will be called upon to manage, as with the ongoing indoor dining and pandemic party crackdown.
We've reached out to both the Sheriff's Office and the city for information about how enforcement might work in this case—will it come in the form of fines or liquor license suspensions, or will the city take a gentler approach? Mitch Schwartz, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, told Gothamist, "I can confirm that we will enforce state law."
Tagged
COVID-19
pandemic
coronavirus
restaurants
outdoor dining
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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