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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kiana from the Lower East Side on Outdoor Dining Accommodations
3:24:39
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121 sec
Kiana, a resident of the Lower East Side, testifies in favor of all outdoor dining accommodations, emphasizing their importance for immunocompromised and high-risk individuals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. She argues for the continuation and expansion of outdoor dining options as a public health measure.
- Highlights the exclusion of vulnerable people from public life due to limited safe dining options
- Discusses the current health landscape, including COVID-19 cases, long COVID, and flu statistics
- Calls for less cumbersome application processes, year-round street seating, and more flexibility for sidewalk cafes
Kiana
3:24:39
Hi.
3:24:40
My name is Kiana.
3:24:41
I live on the Lower East Side, and I'm testifying today in favor of all outdoor dining accommodations, including sidewalk seating, roadside dining, and open streets, which are some of the only ways immunocompromised New Yorkers and other folks at high risk of complications from COVID and the flu can safely enjoy New York's restaurants.
3:24:56
The subtext of the opposition to outdoor dining is that it was a COVID era program, but because COVID is over, the program should be curtailed and our streets should be returned to cars.
3:25:04
But COVID is still very real for many New Yorkers, and if you're concerned about please remember that disability can take many forms.
3:25:11
And I'm very concerned that being high risk or immunocompromised has been entirely overlooked in this conversation.
3:25:16
It's not lost on me that the city's own rules for in person testimony today include COVID safety protocols like masking that don't seem to be widely adopted or enforced, which serves as a visible reminder of how vulnerable people are further excluded from public life.
3:25:29
Vanishing outdoor dining options are particularly troubling when Kathy Hochul is pushing for a statewide mask ban.
3:25:34
Vaccine uptake is terrible.
3:25:36
COVID cases surged last summer.
3:25:38
The CDC is cutting billions in funds to help state to health departments respond to COVID, and Gotham has recently reported that five hundred thousand New Yorkers have lung COVID, which can be so debilitating, it prevents them from being able to work and support themselves.
3:25:50
Every new COVID case is a new opportunity for one of our neighbors to get seriously ill, die, or experience long term complications.
3:25:57
Outdoor dining also plays a role in stopping the spread of flu, and this year, flu cases were at their highest level since 2020.
3:26:03
There have been twenty three pediatric deaths statewide this season, nine of which were here in the city.
3:26:08
Proper ventilation is crucial to preventing airborne illness, but the city has not invested in the infrastructure needed to make indoor dining safer.
3:26:15
And most dine outdoor dining options aren't even available year round, meaning that if you're vulnerable, you can't safely or easily participate in a huge piece of public and social life for half the year.
3:26:25
With all of this in mind, I'm asking the council to please make applying for roadside and sidewalk seating less cumbersome, allow year round street raise, and provide more flexibility for sidewalk cafes.
3:26:35
Outdoor dining is a public good, particularly when it comes to public health.
3:26:40
Thank you so much.