More than half of New York City restaurants that received outdoor dining permits under the city’s program waited longer than 19 months for approval, according to a new investigation that also found the Department of Transportation lacks the data needed to pinpoint where applications are getting held up.
The report that City Comptroller Mark Levine released Tuesday found that just 1,405 of the 4,911 applications received since the program launched in March 2024 had resulted in licenses as of June 15, 2026 — a rate of 28.6%.
