The city’s confusing attempts to regulate outdoor dining set-ups during the coronavirus has forced Big Apple restaurants into a costly game of musical chairs — with owners saying they’ve had to build and rebuild their makeshift patios to keep up with shifting guidelines.
Weeks after the city let eateries replace their parking spots with fenced-in eating areas to make up for the lack of indoor dining, already-struggling owners say changing rules and heavy-handed enforcement are only adding to the financial strain of the pandemic.
“They’ve been a pain in the ass. None of the departments knows what they’re doing,” fumed Wilson Rivas, 43, owner of HeroBoy in the Garment District.
“The Fire Department said, ‘build it this way.’ The [Department of Transportation] said ‘no, you have to put the wall.’ Each of them say something different, that’s the problem.”
Rivas said the cost of his set-up outside his restaurant at Ninth Avenue and West 38th Street — which consists of thin ceiling-height tents surrounded by wooden fencing — increased from $1,200 to well over $3,000 after inspectors forced him to change it three different times.
Because the walls around the dining area were initially blocking a fire hydrant, Rivas said, the FDNY ordered him to cut an egress — then the Department of Buildings came and told him to reattach the walls. DOT has since come and ordered up a thicker barrier.
Over 8,300 eateries have registered to do some form of outdoor dining, according to city stats — and many report similar experiences to Rivas’.
One Brooklyn restaurateur claimed to have spent nearly $10,000 getting her outdoor dining arrangement into compliance over the course of eight separate inspections in three weeks from a variety of city agencies.
“I understand the importance of safety, but there is a shakedown happening,” said the owner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
She noted the city regulations changed just days after the program’s July 22 launch to require thicker barriers and prohibit chairs and tables from blocking the path of pedestrians.
“First day they came they say, ‘oh this is fine. This is okay.’ Next day another guy comes and he says there are new rules,” said Farida Ricciardelli, co-owner of Farida Central Asian Cuisine on Ninth Avenue, who said her $4,000 set-up has been sparsely used.
“They come every day. They say ‘this is incorrect.’ I say OK, I’m not gonna do this anymore. I’m just gonna take this down and close the restaurant.”
A City Hall spokesman insisted the DOT has been hands-on with businesses to help guide them towards compliance, conducting repeated inspections until everything is good to go.
Only 8 percent of applicants for roadway seating have received cease and desist orders after after initial violations, which are only temporary so long as the business makes the fix, according to City Hall.
“With over 8,300 applicants in less than a month, Open Restaurants has been an unprecedented and resounding success,” said the spokesman, Mitch Schwartz.
“We’re committed to working closely with the industry to give restaurants the tools they need to get back on their feet while keeping diners and employees safe.”