City Makes Serious Effort to Cut Red Tape for Restaurants

As part of the city's new initiative to cut the red tape for small businesses, and specifically restaurants, Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith held a get together at City Hall yesterday to hear the grievances of restaurateurs including Peels and Freemans' William Tigertt and The Lambs Club's Will Regan. Among the complaints were the long waiting periods to meet with someone at the Dept. of Buildings, the issue of different inspectors enforcing different rules, a lack of communication between city agencies, lost rent when city delays extend the opening process unduly, and the expense of now necessary expediters—of growing field given NYC's bureaucracy.

City reps are hoping to ameliorate the problem by creating a new "restaurant license" to replace the need for several permits from different agencies. Reps at City Hall tells Eater they're also hosting another meeting with food and beverage media to work on how they communicate their efforts to the restaurant world. They say their initiatives "are intended to simplify City Government by streamlining City operations, improving customer service, and embracing innovation."
· Merchants say rules governing opening restaurants are crushing their businesses [NYDN]
[Photo: Flickr/Wallyg]