Thursday, August 13, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure met to vote on four bills related to the city's outdoor dining program, along with two pre-considered resolutions setting forth Council findings on environmental review. Council Member Restler, the sponsor of Intro 655-A on expanding access to roadway cafes, gave extended remarks arguing the seasonal program passed a few years ago had failed, citing a decline from roughly 8,000 participating restaurants during COVID to under 800 today. He said the bill makes the program year-round, keeps cleanliness requirements in place, and reduces closing hours to 11 p.m. at the advice of lower Manhattan members. Council Member Thomas-Henry, sponsor of Intro 918, said her bill lets cafe operators pay annual revocable consent fees in quarterly installments to ease business costs. Council Member Pierina Ana Sanchez stated during the roll call that she voted no on Intros 655-A and 894. The chair announced the vote results: Intro 894 adopted seven in the affirmative and one in the negative; Intro 655-A adopted six in the affirmative, one in the negative, and one abstention; and all remaining items adopted eight in the affirmative.
0:12 Welcome to today's New York
0:12 City Council vote on committee
0:15 on transportation and
0:17 infrastructure at this time
0:19 during today's vote, no 1
0:21 approach the dais, please
0:22 silence annual training
0:23 devices that you might have a
0:24 chair. You begin good morning
0:28 and welcome to today's hearing
0:29 of the New York City Council's
0:32 committee on transportation
0:32 infrastructure. I'm counselor.
0:34 Majority, don't you have this
0:35 committee at today's hearing,
0:36 the committee will vote on the
0:37 following legislation related
0:38 to the city's outdoor dining
0:41 program.
0:42 Proposed intro number 6 5 5
0:43 a sponsored by council Lincoln
0:45 wrestler in relation t
0:46 oexpanding access to roadways
0:48 , cafes propose in show number
0:51 8 9 4, a sponsored by counsel
0:52 Gale Brewer in relation t
0:54 overtical, insular ization
0:55 coverings for sidewalk cafes
0:57 proposed intro number 9 17
0:58 sponsored by council Justin
1:02 Sanchez in relation t
1:03 osanitation. Sorry
1:03 , and claim this requirements
1:05 for roadway inside walk cafes
1:08 and propose into a number 9 1
1:09 8, a sponsored by council
1:11 members Henry in relation to
1:13 paying sidewalk and roll the
1:15 cafe revocable consent,
1:16 compensation and quarterly
1:19 installments. Also at today's
1:20 hearing, the committee will
1:23 hear and I'm laughing at
1:25 Justin. Sorry, guys also at
1:27 today's hearing, the committee
1:27 will hear and vote on to pre
1:30 considered resolutions which
1:32 ,respectively set forth the
1:33 council findings concerning
1:35 the environmental review
1:36 conducted for proposing intro
1:37 number 6 5 5 a as well as for
1:40 a proposal number 8 9 for a
1:41 before we begin. I'd like to
1:45 thank my staff and the
1:45 committee staff for their hard
1:46 work in preparing for today's
1:47 hearing, lisa quickly, my
1:48 deputy chief of staff old
1:49 miller and sarah townsend
1:51 councils to the committee and
1:52 Kevin kotowski and john basile
1:54 islands of the committee. I
1:55 would also.
1:56 Like to thank the staff of
1:57 the consumer will welcome
1:58 protection committee, sarah
2:00 swain and allie meltzer for
2:01 their efforts on the bills
2:01 being put on today, I will
2:03 . Now pass it on to counsel
2:05 wrestling to provide an
2:05 opening on his bill.
2:09 Thank you so much chair by
2:10 you. I really appreciate it.
2:11 You.
2:11 Was about three years ago
2:13 that the adams administration
2:15 and this council, uh, updated
2:19 the outdoor dining program and
2:23 unfortunately, uh, the
2:24 legislation that was passed a
2:25 few years ago, I did not work.
2:27 We have seen a really
2:31 calamitous decline in the
2:32 number of restaurants that
2:33 participate in after dining
2:34 across the City of New York
2:36 during covid, there were 8000
2:38 restaurants that we're
2:39 offering outdoor dining today.
2:40 We're well under 800, so 90%
2:43 of the restaurants that used
2:45 to offer outdoor dining that
2:47 used to and provide a great
2:48 place for all of us to enjoy
2:50 an outdoor meal are no longer
2:52 available and the number one
2:54 reason why restaurants say
2:55 they're not providing after
2:57 dining
2:57 . Anymore is because it is
2:59 stupidly expensive to build
3:01 and disc and deconstruct and
3:02 store these after dining
3:03 structures during the winter
3:06 months
3:06 . So you be wondering, you
3:07 know, am I really going t
3:08 oenjoy a meal in outside, I
3:12 tragically with climate chang
3:13 e. There are a lot more warm
3:14 days than there used to be,
3:16 but the real the most salient
3:18 benefit of this legislation is
3:19 that they're going to be
3:20 thousands of additional
3:22 restaurants across every one
3:23 of our neighborhoods that are
3:24 offering outdoor dining and a
3:25 great place for us to enjoy a
3:28 meal outdoors.
3:28 You know one thing that the
3:29 the seasonal program did get
3:31 right, is that it addressed
3:33 cleanliness issues around out
3:34 there dining structures last
3:35 year there were just 11 30
3:38 0complaints 11 3 1 complaint
3:39 sabout cleanliness and after
3:40 dining structures in the City
3:42 of New York by insisting that
3:44 all of the furniture is
3:45 readily removable that the
3:47 floors are removed. Once a
3:48 week and cleaned. We have, I
3:51 think effectively addressed
3:52 rat and garbage issues around
3:53 our after dining structures,
3:54 all of those same policies
3:56 remain in place as we make the
3:57 program year.
3:58 Round to address very real
3:59 quality of life issues across
4:02 our communities and with the
4:06 council of, um what? They kind
4:07 of advice of council members
4:08 from lower manhattan like cat
4:10 s, remember mart and Epstein
4:12 and Wilson, we've reduced the
4:13 hours 2 11 o'clock currently
4:16 after dining structures can
4:16 stay open until midnight, and
4:18 sidewalk cafes as well. Now
4:19 they will all close at 11 p. M
4:23 . Uh oh. This is great for our
4:24 economy last year with the
4:26 exception of hummel fates are
4:27 the private workforce in New
4:29 York City actually shrunk, but
4:31 controller lander did a great
4:32 study that found that every
4:33 restaurant that adds after
4:34 dining at the job. So if we
4:35 can add thousands of after
4:37 dining structures across the
4:38 City. Those are thousands of
4:39 good jobs that New yorkers can
4:42 benefit from I am thrille
4:43 dthat we are passing this
4:45 legislation, that is great for
4:46 restaurants, that's great for
4:47 hospitality workers, but most
4:48 of all, it's great for all of
4:49 us to be able to enjoy a meal
4:50 outside, enjoying the
4:51 streetscape of New York
4:53 . City um, speaker manon has
4:55 speaker, um, back last summer
5:00 she was, she was conspiring
5:02 with me about how we could try
5:03 to pass and move this
5:06 legislation. I want to thank
5:06 her and jonathan from her team
5:08 in particular for really being
5:09 steadfast in their support for
5:11 this bill, the alleged
5:12 division did a brilliant job
5:14 in navigating this. I really
5:15 want to thank rachel cordero
5:16 and sarah swain who I think
5:17 just flew back from egypt just
5:18 for this. I'm just kidding.
5:20 But, um but we're really
5:21 grateful for their help, my
5:22 chief of staff is brilliant.
5:25 Molly is the brains behind
5:26 everything we do, and I really
5:26 appreciate her hard work on
5:29 this, and there were many,
5:30 many folks who supported this
5:32 open plans, transportation
5:33 alternatives. The hospitality
5:34 alliance and and most of all
5:35 the small businesses around
5:37 New York City, who told their
5:39 stories and explained how the
5:40 seasonal program just quite
5:42 simply, did not work and we
5:43 needed to fix it. You know we
5:44 need to be more clear eyed in
5:47 government
5:48 . Of recognizing when policies
5:49 fail and fixing them. That is
5:50 exactly what we're doing today
5:51 and I'm really proud that we
5:54 restoring outdoor dining t
5:55 oits previous glory. Thank you,
5:58 tara bray. You really
5:59 appreciate your strong support
6:00 .
6:00 Here. Congratulations.
6:00 Council Member. I will now
6:01 pass it on to castle with
6:03 Thomas Henry to provide a
6:04 nopening statement on her bill.
6:05 Thank you, chair
6:07 . Since stepping into the role
6:08 as the chair of the committee
6:10 on small business I've had the
6:11 honor and the privilege of
6:14 touring businesses across all
6:15 five boroughs in New York City
6:16 and what stood out with each
6:18 and every one of them was the
6:19 cost of doing business is
6:21 getting harder and harder so
6:23 in o 918 would allow sidewalk
6:25 and roadways cafe operators to
6:28 pay their annual revocable
6:31 consent that is currently
6:32 being paid annually to be
6:34 broken up into quarterly
6:37 installments, alleviating just
6:38 a small tidbit of the
6:40 financial burden that so many
6:40 of our businesses face across
6:43 the City, so to all those
6:44 restaurants that we toured and
6:46 visited. This bill is for you.
6:55 Thank you. All right. I will
6:56 anyone else like to speak on
6:57 the bills today saying no, no,
7:01 we're now actually committee
7:01 clerk to call the.
7:02 Rome. Thank you. Good
7:04 morning, william martin
7:05 committee clark roll call vote
7:07 committee on transportation
7:09 and infrastructure all items
7:12 are coupled. I would I? Lewis.
7:19 Brooks Powers, come there,
7:25 but I inuits, I honey, I
7:40 Krishnan mart.
7:41 Ivo ion awe and abstained
7:42 from intro 6 5 5 a day. Verena
7:50 Sanchez. I am. I wanted t
7:52 ocongratulate on my colleagues
7:53 on the bill. One, Justin
8:06 Sanchez I one eye on intro 9 7
8:10 2 9 17 intro hundred 18 and no
8:12 one inch o 6 5 5 and no one
8:14 inch, oh, 8 9 4. Thank you.
8:19 Thank you. Thank you following
8:54 results introduction 8 9 4
8:56 ,had a has been adopted by the
8:57 committee with seven in the
8:58 affirmative, one of the
9:00 negative. No abstentions
9:01 introduction 6 5 5 a adopted
9:03 by the committee, which six in
9:04 the affirmative, one of the
9:04 negative one abstention and
9:07 all the items have been
9:08 adopted by the committee with
9:09 eight in the affirmative. Zer
9:10 othe negative and no
9:14 abstentions with that this
9:16 vote