New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sept. 16 the first weekday expansion of the “Open Streets: Restaurants” initiative. In the meantime, restaurant partner organizations have been organizing temporary street closures across the City to facilitate additional, weekday outdoor dining along select corridors.

Earlier this month, the administration invited BIDs, community-based organizations, and groups of restaurants to submit applications to expand the existing “Open Streets: Restaurants” initiative that combines the existing “Open Streets” and “Open Restaurants” programs. Previously, car-free hours on streets had been limited to weekends.

“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,” said the mayor. “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 success of the Open Restaurants program can be seen and felt in every borough,” said Jonnel Doris, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. “We are thrilled about this latest announcement which continues to address the needs we’ve been hearing from the restaurant industry.

“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,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “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.”

Open Streets: Restaurants is now operating on 87 participating streets across the five boroughs. The broader Open Restaurants initiative, which includes outdoor dining on sidewalks, and in curbside parking spaces on streets open to traffic, and select pedestrian plazas, has surpassed 10,200 participating businesses in just over three months, saving an estimated 90,000 jobs across the five boroughs according to City officials. The program continues through the end of October.

Weekday hours began on Thursday, September 17 at various City locations. Hours for each participating location can be found on the Open Streets: Restaurants homepage.