Outdoor dining in NYC: Applications open for permanent program as city unveils new, modular setups

Applications are now open for restaurants to join the city’s new, permanent outdoor dining program, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday, as the administration unveiled prototypes for how the new modular, seasonal dining setups will look.

The outdoor dining program which the City Council approved last summer, Dining Out NYC, makes permanent the popular COVID-era program that vastly expanded the scope of al-fresco eating in the Big Apple, but with some major changes.