4 Brooklyn Streets Approved For Weekday Outdoor Dining Closures

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Four Brooklyn streets have been approved for expanded outdoor seating services that went into effect on Thursday as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Open Streets: Restaurants initiative that is aimed to help city eateries survive during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The four locations announced this week are among 40 locations around New York City where certain streets will be closed on weekdays to allow restaurants to provide expanding outdoor space in addition to that which is available for dining immediately outside of their eateries. Previously, streets had been shut down on weekends only before de Blasio announced that the program would extend to the rest of the week.

In Brooklyn, the weekday Open Streets program will be in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Park Slope neighborhoods. The areas that were approved for street closures by the city include Arthur Ave. from East 188th St. to Crescent Ave. (Belmont Business Improvement District), Hoyt St. from Atlantic Ave. to State St. (Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District), Grand St. between Marcy Ave. to Roebling St. (Gertie Restaurant, LLC) and Reed St. between Conover St. and Van Brunt St. (Red Hook Business Improvement District, Hometown BBQ).

Hours of operation will vary by location, according to a news release issued by the mayor’s office on Thursday. Hours of operation for the program can be found here.

“Restaurants deserve every chance they can get to serve more customers this fall and, as the weather gets cooler, New Yorkers deserve every chance they can get to enjoy outdoor dining,” de Blasio said in the news release. “The Open Streets: Restaurants program has been a success, and we’re proud to grow its reach and give restaurants more tools to make it through this crisis.”

The Open Streets: Restaurants program is being offered on 87 streets across the five boroughs, according to the release. The city’s broader Open Restaurant program allows eateries to provide outdoor dining space on sidewalks and in parking lots as well in curbside parking spots on streets that are open to traffic. In just three months of operation, 10,200 businesses across New York have participated, which has saved an estimated 90,000 jobs, the mayor’s office said this week. The program will continue through the end of October.

“The Open Streets initiative has already saved tens of thousands of jobs across New York City, and so we expect that car-free outdoor dining on weekdays will give an even greater boost to the economy and the quality of life of our neighborhoods,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in the news release.

"Open Restaurants has been a lifeline for the restaurant industry during the COVID crisis, and has also helped all New Yorkers see new possibilities for how to use our streets in the future.”