'Open Streets' outdoor dining is now permanent on five Queens streets

New York City’s outdoor dining program will be a year-round initiative. Photo via nyc.gov

By David Brand

New York City will allow restaurants to permanently serve customers outside in an extension of the COVID-driven Open Restaurants program, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.

De Blasio said the popular program was a “big, bold experiment” that has helped restaurants stay afloat after the city and state shut down indoor dining, while allowing New Yorkers to meet and eat outside.

“As we begin a long-term recovery, we’re proud to extend and expand this effort to keep New York City the most vibrant city in the world,” de Blasio said. “It’s time for a new tradition.”

The initiative was set to end next month. The extension also applies to streets where cars are banned, de Blasio said. 

There are five such dining plazas in Queens, including pieces of 70th Road and Austin Street in in Forest Hills, a stretch of Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria and Woodside Avenue in Woodside.

 Roughly 10,300 restaurants participate in the Open Restaurants program.