New, streamlined process for sidewalk cafe licenses.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Gretchen Dykstra announced a proposal to create a more efficient, streamlined process for approving unenclosed sidewalk cafe licenses. The proposal, requiring City Council consent, will make the approval process

faster and provide authority for the city to close restaurants that repeatedly break the unenclosed sidewalk cafe rules. It will reduce the approval process, now mandated at 226 days but often taking as many as 465, to a maximum of 100 days while still including full public review by Community Boards and approval by the City Council.

"The often confusing and tedious process of licensing sidewalk cafes has been a deterrent to both potential and existing restaurant owners," said Bloomberg. "We have created a process that will make it dramatically easier for sidewalk cafes - one of the city's most treasured amenities - to become legitimate and operate legally. This solution is a result of agencies, advocates, and operators working together to create a system that works."

"This is a win-win for everyone - the public, which loves sidewalk cafes, the restaurant operators, and the communities that have had to deal with reoccurring problems," said Dykstra. "The new process will make it easier for restaurants to open cafes and easier for the city to shut down those with repeat violations."

The proposal will streamline the existing multi-agency approval process and give one city agency - DCA - centralized authority, thus reducing waiting time for restaurants by more than half. Under the current law, businesses must endure a cumbersome process that requires consent from the City Council, Community Boards, and six city agencies - the Department of City Planning, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Transportation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Mayor's Office of Contracts.

Under the proposed system, DCA will undertake the technical review with operating businesses, conduct the public hearing after Community Board review, make recommendations to the City Council for its approval or denial, and for the first time, have the authority to temporarily padlock the restaurants that have repeat violations. Also as part of the new amendments, DCA will allow cafes to remain open year-round and will grandfather sidewalk cafe platforms.

This past spring DCA reviewed approximately 275 pending sidewalk cafe applications. Since June, 215 have been licensed and DCA has put a solid, more efficient tracking system in place. There are currently more than 700 sidewalk cafes licensed to operate in New York City.

For more information on sidewalk cafe licensing, call the Department of Consumer Affairs at 212-487-4444.