The city comptroller has launched an investigation into City Hall’s handing of outdoor dining permits, raising concerns about procedural holdups that could be preventing hundreds of restaurants from opening up en plein air seating this spring.
Nearly half of the restaurants that have applied for an outdoor dining setup have been stuck in city bureaucracy since the start of the year, according to data from the comptroller’s office.
“Demand for outdoor dining remains strong, from both restaurants and customers,” Levine wrote in a letter to the Department of Transportation and Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. “With summer approaching, DOT and MOCS must streamline and make more transparent their review process and approve sidewalk and roadway cafés in time for the season.”
Outdoor dining setups have become a key part of the business model for many restaurants, allowing them to boost seating capacity and attract more customers. At its Covid-era peak, about 12,000 restaurants participated in the program.
Since the city revamped the outdoor dining program from the pandemic-era version in Sept. 2024, the DOT has submitted just 1,225 permit applications — with 62% of those submitted in 2026, after Mayor Mamdani took office.
The comptroller’s letter formally requested more information about the delay, including a detailed explanation of City Hall’s process, the average time it takes the city to process and approve a restaurant’s bid to have an outdoor setup, staffing information and any efforts by DOT and MOCS to speed up the process.
“The Mamdani administration is working every day to help small businesses thrive, including by supporting outdoor dining—a program New Yorkers love and restaurants depend on,” Will Livingston, a DOT spokesperson, said in a statement.
“These participation numbers show exactly what we warned about: seasonality and a lengthy, bureaucratic approval process are making it harder for restaurants to participate. The City Council should act quickly to reform the outdoor dining law and remove unnecessary hurdles that lengthen the application process and deter participation.”
Per DOT numbers, nearly 700 restaurants have started applications but are now on pause because the business hasn’t submitted blueprints, payment systems or other information required by law. The approval process can take up to nine months, the department said, as they can also get caught up in lengthy review processes at the community board and Council level.
The program faced similar delays last year, when, by the end of February, the DOT had only approved 47 restaurants.
The city saw far more outdoor dining during the pandemic, when restaurants could set out tables and chairs in the sidewalks and streets with very minimal regulation.
The Council last year passed legislation imposing significantly more restrictions on outdoor dining compared to the loose regulations allowing restaurants to participate with few barriers during the pandemic. As it currently stands, restaurants can only offer outdoor dining from April to November. During the winter off-months, they must tear down their dining structures. Eateries are also now subject to costly fees that can tack on thousands to restaurants’ operating costs.
Council Speaker Julie Menin has vowed to advance legislation first introduced last year by Councilmember Lincoln Restler to reinstate year-round outdoor dining and make it easier to open an outdoor setup — something Mamdani has also expressed support for.
The comptroller’s office registers outdoor dining permits as the last step in the administrative process. Restaurants are allowed to open their setups once the DOT and MOCS approve their applications, in order to allow them to more quickly get new seats open.