Report: NYC’s street-side dining program a ‘life preserver’ for local businesses during pandemic’s worst days

A few years ago, when stay-at-home orders brought communities to a shuddering halt overnight, cities across the United States scrambled to find sustainable solutions to the sudden economic challenge local restaurants found themselves facing, experimenting with initiatives that included street-side dining.

Blocking off streets to expand outdoor dining opportunities proved an effective measure that many administrators turned to.

In New York City, the pandemic’s impact was sharp and fast. In the first three months, bar and restaurant sales dropped by more than 50 percent. Many businesses shuttered permanently. The Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs, which allowed restaurants to use adjacent sidewalk space for seating and transformed streets into public space accessible by all, were a boon for struggling businesses. These years later, a report from the New York Department of Transportation, “Streets for Recover: The Economic Benefits of the NYC Open Streets Program,” highlights the success of the programs over the pandemic’s first 18 months.

“At the height of the pandemic, as businesses closed down and New Yorkers lost their jobs, Open Streets and outdoor dining helped keep our restaurants and the city’s economy afloat. And as New York City comes back, this program will continue to be a critical driver of a strong, equitable recovery,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “This report echoes what we have heard in communities across the city: Opening our streets can kickstart small businesses, create jobs, and lift up neighborhoods. Our administration will continue working to craft a permanent outdoor dining program that will keep local restaurants vibrant and that all New Yorkers can be proud of.”

The results are striking: Open Streets corridors, or those with expanded street-side dining access, significantly outperformed nearby control corridors on three key metrics—sales growth, growth in the number of restaurants and bars, and keeping businesses open, the report says. More new restaurants and bars also opened in car-free sections.

“Open Streets saw a 10% increase in new businesses during the pandemic while nearby control corridors saw a 20% contraction,” the report reads. “Open Streets corridors provided a vital boost for restaurants and bars, averaging sales 19% above their pre-pandemic baseline while nearby control corridors were 29% below.

Notably, the Open Streets program was made permanent last May as a part of the city’s administrative code. 

“Open Streets has been a life preserver for struggling businesses during the pandemic and the program’s success confirms we can both sustain and grow economic vitality by reimagining the use of our public spaces.” said Ydanis Rodriguez, commissioner of the New York Department of Transportation. 

The report was compiled in collaboration with Bloomberg Associates using relevant anonymized sales tax data from the New York Department of Finance.

“New York’s streets are as adaptable and resilient as the New Yorkers who live and work on them,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, principal with Bloomberg Associates and former NYCDOT Commissioner under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “Open Streets showed that outdoor, dining, drinking and activity didn’t just bring vibrant street life to a locked-down city, they represented an economic strategy that supported neighborhoods during hard times and can now help the city recover.”