Year-round outdoor dining to ‘finally’ return to NYC streets, Council Speaker Julie Menin vows

Source: New York Post

Hope is on the menu for Big Apple restaurants. City Council Speaker Julie Menin vowed on Wednesday to revive year-round, pandemic-era outdoor dining – after many eateries dropped out of the program entirely in 2025, citing an expensive, lengthy approvals process. “This is a big one, we will finally fix the city’s outdoor dining program to make it year-round and reduce the regulatory burdens for restaurants,” the newly-minted speaker said at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York.