Will new DOT rules "decimate" al fresco dining in the city's open streets?
That was the headline our friends over at Hell Gate ran atop their story on some genuine bureaucratic stupidity over at the Department of Transportation, which established permanent rules for restaurants and bars wanting to set up tables and chairs in the city's "open streets."
DOT's rules brought those establishments under the umbrella of the city's "long-term" and "short-term" concession regulations. The short-term concessions allow outdoor vendors to operate a max of 29 days out of the year. The long-term concession takes about a year to get set up.
That would appear to leave restaurateurs on a handful of open streets shit-out-of-luck, including the so-called Dimes Square on Canal Street, which had planned to operate for 183 days this year.
DOT tells us it's working on a solution, and the agency claims that the restaurants and bars who've staffed up in anticipation of having those extra seats should not fret. Agency spokesman Vincent Barone said DOT will "cut red tape and deliver a solution to allow for Open Streets ... to continue uninterrupted this coming season."
What could that solution be? It may very well require an executive order from Mayor Mamdani. Or maybe the city's existing rules will have some wiggle room. Stay tuned.
In other news:
- What happened to the natural grass at Levi's Stadium? All we saw at the Big Game on Sunday was Astroturf ... in the form of Uber's faux-populist multi-million-dollar Super Bowl ad for its campaign to lower insurance payouts to car crash victims under the fake name "Citizens for Affordable Rates." Come on. Streetsblog readers know exactly what is going on here.
- New Yorkers are getting tired of all that snow. (NY Times)
- A federal judge said late on Friday that President Trump could not withhold funding for the Gateway Tunnel project — a decision that came hours after work had stopped because federal funding had dried up. It's unclear if federal money will start flowing again, so union workers will rally at 11:30 a.m. on Monday in New Jersey with Garden State Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- ICYMI: Streetsblog broke down President Trump's refusal to release funds for Gateway unless he gets his name on Penn Station, which Gothamist soft-pedaled as an "offer" and "pitch."
- A driver struck and killed a 1-year-old boy in a Rego Park parking garage on Saturday. Cops did not immediately arrest the driver. (Daily News)
- Cops arrested the hit-and-run school bus driver who killed 11-year-old Amira Aminova on Thursday. (Gothamist, NY Times)
- More carnage: a hit-and-run SUV driver killed a 27-year-old man on Westchester Avenue in the Bronx early on Sunday morning. (amNY)
- Still more carnage: An unlicensed driver struck and killed a man attempting to cross the Deegan Expressway within Van Cortlandt Park. (Daily News)
- Gov. Hochul and her running mate Adrienne Adams secured their spots on the June Democratic primary ballot on Friday. (NY1)
- Hey, congestion pricing foes, Manhattan retail leases surged in 2025. (Crain's)
- Meet Waymo's "man behind the curtain": workers in the Philippines. (Futurism)
- A judge found an NYPD cop guilty for throwing a cooler at a fleeing suspect on a motorcycle in 2023. (NY Times)
- "Providing a no-pay bus system that competes with a pay train system risks putting more traffic on the street in the form of buses, not less," reads this Daily News op-ed.
- YouTuber Derick Waller checked in on the free buses of Worcester, Massachusetts. (Derick Waller Reports via YouTube)
- A federal jury found Uber liable for a rape committed by one of its drivers in Arizona. (NY Times)
- Mayor Mamdani cleaned house at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which his predecessor stacked with cronies. (City & State)
- Republicans accused the mayor of not hiring enough snow shovelers, but then again, these are the same people who have been blaming Mamdani for 15 days of sub-freezing temps. (NY Post)
- Council Member Frank Morano (R-Staten Island) wants the city to create a map that delineates responsibilities for snow removal. (S.I. Advance)
- The Economic Development Corporation seeks vendors for the modular bathroom pilot announced last month by Mayor Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin. (amNY)
- And finally, Hizzoner has gone seven days with a livable street disappointment:
