Mayor Announces a Few More ‘Open Restaurant’ Streets — And Extends Program through October

By Gersh Kuntzman
Jul 17, 2020

Famed restaurant architect David Rockwell created this idea for outdoor space — showing the Park Slope restaurant Negril — for the New York City Hospitality Alliance. Photo: Rockwell Group

Mayor de Blasio added a tiny bit more space to a program that allows restaurants to operate in the middle of the roads during weekend hours — but did provide some huge news: the program will be extended through October so that restaurateurs can maximize their al fresco offerings as long as the weather holds.

“I’m proud to give small businesses another two months to get back on their feet, and I’m looking forward to enjoying a meal on our expanded ‘Open Street program’ soon,” the mayor said, announcing 26 new locations where restaurants can set up in the roadway during weekend hours, joining the 8,600 restaurants that are already operating on sidewalks and in curbside spaces that have been reclaimed from inefficient car storage.

The mayor did not expand the “Open Streets: Restaurants” program in one crucial way: It still only allows restaurants to set up tables in the selected roadways from Friday night through Sunday nights. The program consists of about 4.6 miles of roadways out of more than 6,000 miles city wide, but restaurateurs still need to set up and break down their seating areas every weekend.

(This is a breaking story and will be updated.)

The new 26 street segments in the program — which now comprises 47 segments — are mostly in Manhattan (and what’s in Manhattan is almost entirely below Midtown):

In the Village (East and West)
- Jones St. between Bleecker and W Fourth sts (one block)
- Macdougal St. between W. Eighth and W. Third sts. (four blocks)
- Bleecker St. between Mott St. and the Bowery (one block)
- W. Eighth St. between Fifth and Sixth aves. (two blocks)
- St Marks Pl. between Second and Third aves. (one avenue block)
- Avenue B between Second and Third sts. (one block)
- E. Seventh St. between Ave. A and First Ave. (one avenue block)
- Christopher St. between Waverly Pl. and Seventh Ave. S. (less than a block)
In Lower Manhattan
- Pearl St. between Broad St. and Hanover Sq. (two blocks)
- Pine St. between William and Pearl sts. (one block)
On the Lower East Side
- Canal St. between Orchard and Essex sts. (two blocks)
- Rivington St. between Essex and Norfolk sts. (one block)
In Soho
- Spring St. between Sixth Ave. and Thompson St. (two blocks)
- Lafayette St. between Spring and Kenmare sts. (one block)
In Inwood
- Dyckman St. between Broadway and Seaman aves. (one block)
In Midtown
- E. 32nd St. between Fifth and Madison aves. (one avenue block)
- E 20th St. between Park Ave. and Broadway (one block)
- W. 22nd St. between Fifth and Sixth aves. (one avenue block)

In other locations:

In Queens
- 70th Rd. between Austin St. and Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills (one block)
- Austin St. between 72nd Ave and 72nd Rd in Forest Hills (one block)
- Woodside Ave. between 76th and 78th sts. in Woodside (two blocks)
In the Bronx
- Cedar Ave. between W. Fordham Rd. and Landing Rd. (one block)
In Brooklyn
- - Graham Ave. between Skillman Ave. and Conselyea St. in Greenpoint (one block) (Buses will be rerouted during the weekend hours.)
  - Fifth Ave. between 40th and 41st sts in Sunset Park (one block)
  - Fifth Ave between President and Third sts. and 10th and 13th streets in Park Slope (adding nine blocks to existing four-block stretch between Dean St. and Park Pl.)