Community Board 2 sees surge of outdoor-dining applications; committee reports backlog and ADA, agency coordination issues

At the February Executive Committee meeting, the Community Board 2 (Manhattan) Outdoor Dining Working Group reported heavy workload and procedural uncertainty as city agencies, applicants and community boards implement the post-pandemic outdoor dining rules.

The working group said it has reviewed roughly two-thirds of roadway cafe applications expected in the district and only a small share of sidewalk cafe applications. The group told the Executive Committee it will have reviewed its 100th roadway application and reported that, by a pipeline estimate provided earlier, the board faces over 150 new outdoor-dining applications across sidewalk and roadway categories (the working group said a figure of 551 had been circulated as a pipeline estimate to the committee earlier). The group and other committee members told the Executive Committee that the volume has required multiple extra meetings.

Commi…