PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Robert Bookman, Attorney from New York City Hospitality Alliance on Sidewalk Cafe Reform and Small Business Challenges
2:18:18
ยท
3 min
Robert Bookman, an attorney for the New York City Hospitality Alliance, testified about the challenges faced by small businesses, particularly focusing on the failures of the new sidewalk cafe law. He emphasized that while progress has been made in addressing small business issues, significant problems remain, including high costs, excessive fines, and regulatory burdens.
- The new permanent cafe law, intended to be faster, easier, and more inclusive, has failed with only 20-25% of restaurants from the emergency program applying.
- Key issues include the need for year-round roadway dining options, restrictive clearance rules, and a cumbersome online-only application process.
- Bookman called for collaboration to address these issues and make the program more accessible to small, immigrant-owned businesses across all boroughs.
Robert Bookman
2:18:18
I'm Rob Bookman.
2:18:18
I don't speak as fast as Andrew, so if you'll give me an extra 30 seconds.
2:18:22
Mostly we want to talk about, talk about sidewalk cafe reform and what needs to be done there.
2:18:27
But, you know, before that, I wanna say that 30 somewhat years now ever since I left city government, Department of Consumer Affairs, I've been testifying before this committee and this council on small business issues.
2:18:36
And we are much better than we were decades ago.
2:18:40
No question about it.
2:18:41
You people are now talking the talk and you're walking the walk.
2:18:44
But as Andrew said, there's a lot to do and it's and it's and it's a lot more that can be done.
2:18:49
The cost of doing business is too damn high.
2:18:51
The fines are too damn high.
2:18:52
The regulatory burdens is too damn high.
2:18:55
And there are specific things we could do to address all of that.
2:18:58
Sidewalk cafes, we work together with the council and the min and 2 administrations to come up with a new permanent cafe law.
2:19:05
It was supposed to be faster, easier, less expensive, and more democratic, meaning 5 boroughs, not just focused on Manhattan like the old law was.
2:19:14
It has failed.
2:19:16
We and we're gonna need when it comes up to a 1 year in the spring and we're gonna see the failures on the ground, we're gonna need to sit together and address why it failed and what we could do to change it.
2:19:27
Why do I say it failed?
2:19:29
Because only about 20 to 25 percent of the of the restaurants that participated in the emergency program even bothered filing applications.
2:19:38
That's pretty shocking.
2:19:39
And we know that 100 of those are gonna be denied because they, you know, they they don't meet the new standards.
2:19:46
Other 100, we have already found out from DOT never finished their application because they're now finding out it's gonna be so expensive, especially in Roadway, to take down dining and put it back up.
2:19:57
And these businesses that they've, they've had, you know, on their marketplace are way too expensive.
2:20:03
There's not more than the few handful of rich Manhattan restaurants that can afford it.
2:20:07
So they may have filed, maybe 1 to 26 100 establishments have filed, but we know 100 of them are not going through with the process at all.
2:20:15
So we started with 1400 licensed sidewalk cafes under the old cumbersome Manhattan Centric Law.
2:20:20
I don't know that we're gonna wind up with many more establishments than that, and that is a failure.
2:20:26
We need quickly, give me 30 seconds, we need year round roadway dining options, which will make it more affordable.
2:20:33
38% of the people in the survey we we surveyed 500 restaurants who did not apply, asked them why.
2:20:39
38% said because they needed a year round, option.
2:20:44
Another 40% said the clearances, the rules that DOT passed were too restrictive compared to the old rules, and so they weren't able to get enough tables and chairs to bother, the expense, you know, of applying.
2:20:57
The application process is the third thing that people cited.
2:20:59
31% said it was too cumbersome.
2:21:01
It was online only.
2:21:03
Lots of small immigrant business owners in the boroughs could not figure it out.
2:21:07
They didn't know how to upload and download and give pictures, and there was no in person option.
2:21:12
There's no excuse for not having an in person option for a business small business owner to come in with their application papers, have it looked over.
2:21:19
Scaffolding is, how DOT is interpreting scaffolding is is hurting more cafes, and the processing time is way too too long.
2:21:28
You guys and your staff work with us to try to reduce the amount the 6 months that it took under the old law, and we thought we had improvements, but it's just not turning out that way.
2:21:39
So we need to work on it, both the roadway and the sidewalk.
2:21:43
So it it is what we hoped it to be, not just Manhattan centric, but everywhere, and not just big restaurants, but mom and pops as well.
UNKNOWN
2:21:53
Thank you.
Robert Bookman
2:21:53
Not bad.
2:21:54
Pretty quick.