Restaurants with outdoor seating got a boost on Thursday from the City Council, which passed a measure making roadway dining legal year-round. The legislation, titled "Expanding access to roadway cafes," also allows for the use of winterizing materials to facilitate their operation in the colder times of the year, and prohibits any rule from the Department of Transportation (DOT) that would allow them to operate past 11pm. The measure passed with a margin of 37 votes in favor to 5 against. "Unnecessary red tape" The practice of cutting out sidewalk-adjacent lanes for outdoor dining was first adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, buttressing business for restaurants at a time when the industry was crippled by social distancing guidance. Nearly 8,000 restaurants across the five boroughs participated in the practice, which is estimated to have saved 100,000 service industry jobs during the public health emergency. Ninety percent of these have since undone their outdoor structures in the face of regulation ushered in by the Adams administration. "Too many restaurants and cafes have been locked out of our roadway dining program by unnecessary red tape and seasonal restrictions," said Councilman Lincoln Restler, who spearheaded the legislation, adding that the legislation "transforms the public realm" by expanding roadway dining. The Brooklyn legislator told the transportation-focused outlet Streetsblog that he heard from restaurant owners that setting up and tearing down the outdoor dining structures was "too darn expensive," and was the main reason they no longer participated in roadway dining. Support from restaurants, new urbanists Another reform that eases burden on restaurant owners is a fee payment schedule staggered in 3-month installments, as opposed to the yearly lump sum that had been adopted post-pandemic. "Not even a landlord requires a restaurant to pay their full-year rent upfront," Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York Hospitality Alliance, told Streetsblog. The new rule has been broadly backed by the restaurant industry, with another trade organization crediting Restler and Council Speaker Julie Menin (herself a former restaurant owner) for "working together to deliver meaningful reforms." City legislators also saw support from Transportation Alternatives, an organization that seeks to make "world-class public spaces" out of the Big Apple's streets. "It brings life to our streets and is an economic boon for our small businesses," Director of Advocacy Shawn Garcia said. "Every New Yorker should be able to grab a bite to eat in our city's ever-improving streetscape."