Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Restaurant owners discuss city agencies' responsiveness to program inquiries
1:14:48
·
63 sec
Council Member Ossé inquires about the responsiveness of DCWP and DOT to restaurant owners' questions and concerns regarding the new outdoor dining program. Restaurant owners share their experiences.
- Some owners report using lawyers to navigate the complex application process
- There are mixed experiences with agency responsiveness, with some finding it difficult to get clear answers
- DOT staff is noted to be responsive to individual applicant questions, though the answers are not always satisfactory or clear
- The complexity of the process has led some restaurant owners to seek help from peers or industry organizations
Chi A. Ossé
1:14:48
And how responsive has DCWP or DOT been when maybe some of the complications you've had during this new rendition of the program been?
1:14:59
Have they been responsive in answering your questions?
1:15:01
Has it been clear responses that you've been receiving?
1:15:05
What has the engagement been there?
Megan Rickerson
1:15:07
So I can tell you that I used a lawyer.
1:15:09
So my lawyer has done the bulk of that, which I'm very grateful for because there has been a lot of back and forth, and I feel like a lot of the questions that were posed, I would have had to reach out to someone else to figure out how to answer them.
1:15:21
Mhmm.
1:15:21
My very best friend owns a bar in Queens, and she tackled this program on her own.
1:15:27
And I can tell you that she has called me few times a week to ask me, to ask questions, to reach out Andrew, to talk to Jeff Garcia, to try to figure out the responses because she has talked to DOT and the answers weren't as clear.
1:15:42
But this is also specifically relating to the conditional approval as it relates to altering your liquor license.
1:15:50
There's been a lot of confusion around that, and I know that you're dealing with a state agency and a city agency, but I can tell you that a lot of people I have talked to are very confused about the alteration and that in general.