On Car-Free Streets, Many New York Restaurants Thrived

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/25/nyregion/ny-open-streets-restaurants.html

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New York City’s Open Streets program grew out of a clamor for more outdoor space early in the coronavirus pandemic.

But the traffic-free zones also became a vital lifeline for struggling restaurants and bars that embraced curbside dining.

Now, the economic impact of the initiative is being measured for the first time in a new city report that finds that restaurants and bars on the most successful Open Streets reported stronger sales than those on similar commercial streets with car traffic — and in some cases, did better than they did before the pandemic.

Some Open Streets even attracted new restaurants and bars during the first 18 months of Covid-19, when many businesses remained closed or limited their operations.

“During the pandemic, New Yorkers clearly loved eating outdoors — but we now also have empirical evidence of the positive role that dining on Open Streets had on local neighborhood economies and our broader city recovery,” said Ydanis Rodriguez, the city’s transportation commissioner.

Mr. Rodriguez is releasing the report on Tuesday as city officials seek to make outdoor dining permanent through an initiative known as Open Restaurants, which has enrolled more than 12,000 restaurants and bars. That initiative grew out of the Open Streets program, which was made permanent in 2021, though its efforts have been scaled back in some neighborhoods.

Critics of outdoor dining have complained that it has increased noise, trash and rats, as well as blocked sidewalks, taken away parking spots and worsened congestion, and they say it is no longer necessary as the city continues to recover from the pandemic.

State Assemblyman David I. Weprin, a Queens Democrat, said that there are both benefits and drawbacks to outdoor dining, and that each site should be assessed individually to determine whether an outdoor option is still necessary. “It shouldn’t just be an automatic OK like we did during the pandemic,” Mr. Weprin said. “I think there is less of a need now.”

The city report analyzed the total taxable revenue collected by restaurants and bars on five Open Streets in the neighborhoods of Astoria, Queens; Chinatown and Koreatown in Manhattan; and Park Slope and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn.

In 2021, the average total revenue for these five areas was nearly $6 million from June 1 through Aug. 31, or 19 percent higher than the average of $5 million for the three years preceding the pandemic, according to the report.

During the same time period in 2021, restaurants and bars on five commercial corridors near the Open Streets — which were not closed to traffic — struggled. The average total revenue on those streets was $3.6 million, a 29 percent drop from their $5.3 million prepandemic average.

There were 101 restaurants and bars operating on the five Open Streets in the summer of 2021, up from an average of 92 such establishments before the pandemic, according to the report. On similar commercial corridors with car traffic, the number of restaurants and bars that summer decreased to 80 from an average of 103 before the pandemic.

Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an industry group, said the report confirmed what he has heard from many restaurant owners. “When outdoor dining is coupled with an Open Street, the combination enhances the already strong economic and social impact,” he said.

The Open Streets program is “an economic success story,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, a former city transportation commissioner and a principal with Bloomberg Associates, which helped produce the report.

“This research shows how building street life builds community wealth,” Ms. Sadik-Khan said. “New York offers cities evidence that the same strategies that can bring life into the open during a public emergency can also help cities recover long after.”

In Chinatown, where there was no tradition of outdoor dining on its narrow sidewalks before the pandemic, Doyers Street has become a popular eating spot. People gather around the outdoor tables on this Open Street for hand-pulled noodles, dim sum and Taiwan-style pork chops.

“We can be social, we can breathe the fresh air and we can see what other people are eating — it’s like free advertising,” said Wellington Z. Chen, the executive director of the Chinatown Business Improvement District/Partnership.

Workers for the organization have helped make Doyers a destination by assisting artists who decorated the asphalt on the street with bright colors. The workers also put out tables, chairs and umbrellas every morning so people can sit and enjoy their coffee or tea. If the workers are late, Mr. Chen added, he gets calls from local residents.

In Brooklyn, neighbors started a six-block Open Street on Vanderbilt Avenue in 2020 to aid struggling restaurants and bars. Now, 24 establishments offer outdoor dining there and help pay for its operation, including seven that opened during the pandemic. Three more restaurants are coming soon.

“It’s really become a gathering place,” said Megan Robinson, the co-chairwoman of a volunteer committee that runs Vanderbilt. “I think people want to support their local businesses and this makes it easy for them.”