New Yorkers Are Packing Community Board Meetings to Oppose Outdoor Dining

New Yorkers opposing outdoor dining are packing community board meetings

As community boards across the city debate the future of outdoor dining, New Yorkers are packing the neighborhood meetings to oppose making the program permanent. Earlier this week residents showed up at meeting held by Manhattan Community Board 2 — which encompasses parts of Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy, and Chinatown — to speak out against the popular program, complaining about noise from outdoor dining and likening the sidewalk setups to “vermin habitat[s],” CBS reports.

New Yorkers have overwhelmingly supported Open Restaurants throughout the pandemic, but in recent months a vocal minority of city residents has spoken out against the program. At the community board level, that opposition appears to be ramping up in some neighborhoods, with residents turning out in droves to cite concerns that range from safety and noise to pedestrian access and parking. Ahead of a meeting held by Manhattan Community Board 3 earlier this month, a group of residents led a campaign using flyers and emails to urge their neighbors to show up in opposition to the program.

Open Restaurants has served as a lifeline for more than 11,000 businesses over the last year, as restaurants and bars extended their seating into sidewalks and parking spaces with outdoor setups. Mayor Bill de Blasio has previously expressed his support for making outdoor dining permanent and has credited the city program with saving 100,000 hospitality industry jobs during the pandemic.

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