Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Coronavirus Crisis

La Nacional, a 155-year-old restaurant on 14th Street wants to keep its outdoor dining year-round. Photo: La Nacional

Restaurateurs, Advocates Beg Council To Keep All-Year Outdoor Dining

By Kevin Duggan | Feb 28, 2023 | No Comments

"If we have to take it down in the winter there’s no putting that stuff back up," said Donna Drakes, owner of the Caribbean restaurant Brooklyn Beso in Bedford-Stuyvesant. "I think that’s just a way for them to get rid of it."

Chez Oskar's outdoor dining structures beautify Malcolm X Boulevard in Brooklyn. Photo: Shannon Greer

EXCLU: Council Will Move Ahead with Seasonal Outdoor Dining Plan

By Kevin Duggan | Feb 27, 2023 | No Comments

The Council plans to make the city's outdoor dining program permanent, but the roadside "streeteries" will become just seasonal, as part of revised legislation expected to come before lawmakers next month, Council sources told Streetsblog.

Families enjoy the W. 22nd Open Street in Chelsea. Photo: Melodie Bryant

Community Board 4 Wants Shared Street on W. 22nd — And Continued Open Street in the Meantime

By Kevin Duggan | Jan 5, 2023 | No Comments

A Manhattan community board wants the city to turn the embattled W. 22nd open street into a permanent shared street — the latest twist in a saga that has seen the popular play street under fire from a small group of opponents.

Council Member Carlina Rivera wants a good outdoor dining law.

Opinion: We Deserve a Bold Outdoor Dining Program — After a Fair Hearing

By Carlina Rivera | Nov 22, 2022 | No Comments

The City Council has not advanced the legislation to make the city's temporary, Covid-era outdoor dining program permanent. In this exclusive op-ed, Council Member Carlina Rivera is demanding a better process.

A stock image that sort of tells it all. Photo: Ketut Subiyanto

MTA Encouraged by Apparent Increase in Subway Use by White Collar Workers, Tourists

By Gersh Kuntzman | Sep 21, 2022 | No Comments

Public transit — it's not just for essential workers anymore.

MTA CEO Janno Lieber (top) says subway bathrooms will remain closed, but Council Member Ari Kagan wants him to change that policy. Main photo: Tdorante10

OPINION: The MTA Must Reopen Its Restrooms — Now!

By Ari Kagan | Jul 14, 2022 | No Comments

We need to build more public toilets, but first, let's end the indignity and restore the comfort stations we have.

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