“The city that never stops” always takes a challenge and turns it into an opportunity. This summer was no exception. With Covid-19 restrictions banning indoor dining, New York restaurants are bringing the party outdoors with new sidewalk seating arrangements and patios that could compete with Paris café trottoirs and Roman piazzas.

Since the city announced that restaurants could use outdoor space to reopen, close to 7,000 eateries requested a permit, and twenty-two streets became outdoor dining spaces on the weekend, including Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, Times Square, Fifth Avenue in Park Slope and Arthur’s Avenue in the Bronx’s Little Italy.