Open Streets: Should They Stay or Should They Go?

January 10, 2023

With the help of the NYC Open Restaurants initiative — which has more than 12,000 participating restaurants and bars — city officials are striving to make outdoor dining permanent. In 2022, businesses on the most prosperous open streets reported higher sales than those on comparable commercial streets with car traffic. In some cases, they even outperformed their pre-pandemic success. Three years into the pandemic, however, voices of criticism have become stronger due to the detrimental effects the initiative has on neighborhoods, such as traffic, noise, and parking.

A Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism project.