NYC restaurateurs frustrated as city issues only 40 outdoor dining permits with thousands still in limbo: ‘Extorted money from us’

There’s a backlog of more than 3,600 applications for outdoor dining sheds in the Big Apple — thanks to the city’s “cumbersome,” convoluted new approval process, The Post has learned.

The city has only issued permits for 40 dining spots as officials scramble to hand out temporary licenses and restaurant owners worry about the big investments they made ahead of the April 1 al fresco season.

“The city extorted money from us,” said Tom Avallone, manager of Nick’s Bistro in Forest Hills, Queens. “We were obligated to apply for the permit and pay the fee by Aug. 3 or we would have had to take down the old shed before November … 1740088951 there is nothing we can do until we know what’s gonna happen.”

Avallone said he still hasn’t heard back regarding the eatery’s roadway dining permit, which has prompted him to freeze hiring for the spring until he knows how many seats he’ll have.

“Are we gonna be up and functioning on April 1?” Avallone said. “Can we start building [the dining shed] in the last two weeks of March so we can be ready to serve our customers on April 1? There are so many unanswered questions right now.”

To get a roadway dining permit eateries must get an OK from the Department of Transportation, local community board and the city comptroller’s office. For sidewalk dining restaurants also need a thumbs up from a local council member, according to the new regulations unveiled by the City Council last year.

The lengthy process for roadway dining unveiled by the City Council in 2023 requires approval from the Department of Transportation, local community board and the city comptroller’s office. For sidewalk dining that process also requires a thumbs-up from a local council member.

The process is such a maze that the DOT is now planning to issue conditional licenses because of how long it’s taking to make a call on the applications.

“Given the application timeline, [the Department of Transportation will work with restaurants to grant conditional approvals for most restaurants with roadway applications that are stuck in the city council-mandated review process to allow for operations by April 1,” a DOT spokesperson said.

Restaurants that pass the community board public hearing stage – an estimated 800 eateries – will be eligible for a temporary permit while they wait for final approval from the city comptroller’s office.

Roughly 680 restaurants applied for both roadway and sidewalk outdoor dining permits, according to the DOT. And 1,638 and 748 establishments applied for sidewalk- and roadway-only permits, respectively. 

But several small business owners and managers told The Post this week that they are still feeling a time crunch ahead of the outdoor dining season — and uneasy about shelling out thousands of dollars for a program they don’t have approvals for yet.

“The timing, we are worried about it because we [already] had to start to do contracts with the [architectural] company for our outside structure,” said Brooklyn-based Caffe De Martini owner Stefano De Martini, who still hasn’t received an approval for his application submitted over the summer.

“We are in limbo – we had to pay [the architects], but we don’t know when our license will be approved,” De Martini, 39, said.

The Italy-born shop owner, who operates the cafe with his wife Camila Soto, said he spent over $30,000 on a new dining shed to meet the Department of Transportation’s rigid requirements – plus thousands more in attorney fees and insurance required by the city.

To De Martini, the shed is a necessary investment in the future of his shop.

“We have an inflation problem, and [business] is worse during really cold weather,” De Martini said, noting that he’d like to see a faster application process and year-round outdoor dining opportunities. “We’ve built up a really strong community, but definitely a little bit of the business we lose in the winter.”

A public hearing on their roadway al fresco setup on a busy section of Vanderbilt Street is set for March 13 – and if it passes, will go to the comptroller’s office for final review.

City Comptroller Brad Lander sent DOT a scathing letter last week, blasting the agency for only finalizing 40 permit approvals out of more than 3,700 applications.

“New York City’s restaurant scene survived and flourished because of outdoor dining — and yet City Hall’s kitchen is backed up with permits, leaving lots of restaurants out in the cold,” Lander wrote.

But DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez’s responded Monday that the agency has already reviewed all applications for both roadways and sidewalks while blasting the “cumbersome” process created by the City Council.

“It is incumbent on community boards, city council people and others to now do their part,” Rodriguez wrote in the letter, obtained by The Post.

Rodriguez said if Lander was “unhappy” with the law, he should address them with the City Council.

Until temporary approvals are granted, restaurants say the waiting game continues — and not everyone wants to take a risk on a new setup ahead of time.

Mirico Mennuni of San Carlo Osteria Piemonte in Manhattan’s Soho nieghborhood, said he is waiting for his permit before he drops roughly $30,000 on another dining shed.

“It’s gonna be a big investment,” Mennuni, 36, said, noting that the restaurant lost nearly 20% of its business after it tore down its shed. “Before we had an outdoor shed and it stayed [up] for four years. Now we can only use it from April to November, and then somebody has to store it.”

Others said restaurants must take the risk and invest ahead of time to recoup losses from the wintertime.

“It’s business, what are you gonna do?” said Antonello Iacca, of Old Fashion Cafe in Soho, who has already dropped $10,000 on lawyers and application fees. “You’re taking a risk … but in spring and summer, people want to be outside.”