By Natalie Hughes

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused New York City residents and businesses to flee the area. As of September 2020, more than 5,000 businesses have permanently closed while real estate listings are up 87% from last year. According to Eater New York, nearly 1,000 (and counting) restaurants and bars have closed. Although it’s difficult for patrons to remain socially distant while eating, it’s even harder for restaurant owners to expand their outdoor seating options given the narrow New York City sidewalks and bustling city streets. Unfortunately no change will come, at least for the time being. Two weeks ago New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the pandemic-era outdoor dining program will stay in place until further notice.

In June, the city introduced a program called “Open Restaurants” to allow more than 10,000 eateries to expand seating into sidewalks, streets, and public spaces. The program seeks to jumpstart the city’s hospitality industry, and therefore New York City’s economy, by increasing seating capacity.

While many restaurants have adjusted well to outdoor dining, they undoubtedly did so with expectations of reverting back to customary indoor dining by October. The Open Restaurants program was intended to halt next month, yet the city has realized that it serves as an invaluable lifeline to the dining sector and should remain in order. Although indoor dining resumed at 25% capacity on September 30th, the mayor’s extension of the Open Restaurants order serves to remind the city that partial indoor dining is not enough to sustain its thousands of restaurants.

Restaurant owners across the five boroughs have described the Open Restaurants program as a make or break moment for the city’s economy. As temperatures drop, the Open Restaurants program will lead to diminishing revenues. Further, if COVID cases soar once again and indoor dining percentages are reduced, restaurant owners will be left defenseless.