The city has taken a knife to its bureaucratic red tape and approved hundreds more outdoor-dining-shed applications for the start of the al fresco season Tuesday, The Post has learned.
About 80 percent of requested sidewalk set-ups — or 1,808 out of 2,241 applications — have gotten approval, according to the city Department of Transportation.
Add that number to the 600 of 1,178 requests for dining set-ups in the actual street that were approved, and the outdoor roadside dining areas hit more than 2,400.
Dozens more such al fresco situations are expected to obtain conditional approvals in the coming weeks, too, the Adams’ administration said.
At least one of the affected restaurateurs is elated.
“We were worried in the beginning. We’re relieved we got approved for roadside dining,” Brooklyn-based Caffe De Martini owner Stefano De Martini told The Post.
He said he will pay roughly $30,000 for his outdoor dining structure, which a contractor will begin erecting April 10.
“We hope it’s going to be a good summer season,” De Martini said.
The City Council approved a cumbersome law in 2023 requiring the DOT, local community boards and city comptroller’s office to sign off on roadway dining, critics have griped.
That process also required a thumbs-up from a local council member.
The DOT said it is issuing more conditional licenses to get around the red tape.
“Thanks to NYC DOT’s efforts to cut red tape from the City Council-established approval process, hundreds of roadway dining set-ups will join the nearly 2,000 sidewalk outdoor dining set-ups to operate April 1, with more approvals on the way,” said DOT spokesman Vincent Barone.
“City Council leadership made clear early on that they were opposed to the idea of roadway dining completely — and only through negotiation was NYC DOT able to save the program.”
Last month, The Post reported a backlog of more than 3,600 applications for outdoor dining sheds in the Big Apple.
The DOT only issued permits for 40 dining spots at the time, and restaurateurs raged at the delays.
The Post separately reported Sunday that only seven restaurants have thus far received outdoor liquor licenses from the state Liquor Authority, which means many al fresco diners could face a dry summer.
All establishments that received conditional approval for roadway setups were allowed to begin constructing their sites starting last week — and it’s up to the eateries on when they want to go al fresco, Barone said.
The DOT said it has reviewed every roadway application and advanced every completed and compliant application.
Any establishment that has not received a conditional approval to date is either on the path to do so or has not submitted a complete application, the department said.
DOT added that it has reached out to every restaurateur with an incomplete application to help guide him or her through the process.
The department said it also held 47 in-person and virtual training sessions with thousands of people in the restaurant industry, blasted emails to every eatery and distributed 15,000 pieces of literature to food establishments across the five boroughs.
DOT officials also held one-on-one meetings with restaurateurs to resolve issues.
