#City closes seven more streets to traffic for weekend outdoor dining plan

Enlarge Image

Restaurant Marc Forgione on Reade Street between Greenwich Street and West Broadway.
Alex Troesch

Seven more streets in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island will be closed to traffic on weekends for outdoor dining, bringing the total number of car-free corridors under the coronavirus-linked restaurant program to 87, Mayor de Blasio announced Friday.

“As we prepare for the return of indoor dining on Sept. 30, we’re proud to continue supporting businesses by expanding car-free outdoor dining in neighborhoods across the city,” de Blasio said in a statement.

The closures, hosted by both restaurants and business groups, begin Friday night.

The five new locations in Manhattan are Khe-Yo on Duane Street between Hudson Street and West Broadway, Restaurant Marc Forgione on Reade Street between Greenwich Street and West Broadway, Ray’s Bar on Rivington Street between Chrystie Street and the Bowery, St. Marks Business Coalition on St. Marks Place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, and the Times Square Alliance on W. 47th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue.

There is one new corridor in Brooklyn — Gertie Restaurant on Grand Street between Marcy Avenue and Roebling Street — and one on Staten Island run by the New Dorp Business Improvement District on 9th Street between New Dorp Lane and Rose Avenue.

Outdoor dining will continue through Oct. 31. Fewer than half of the city’s 25,000 restaurants participate in the outdoor dining program. De Blasio launched the “open streets” program in June, allowing restaurants set up more outdoor tables than are typically allowed on streets with car traffic.

City restaurants can begin to host indoor diners at 25 percent of their capacity at the end of September, Gov. Cuomo announced earlier this week.