The Data Shows Curbside Dining is Less Equitable Now
At the onset of the summer last year, as the Dining Out NYC program entered its first season, we had a question: where were these newly codified curbside dining locations? The data revealed that working class neighborhoods couldn’t reap the economic and livability benefits of curbside dining because locations were overwhelmingly in wealthy neighborhoods.
Over a year later, our analysis reveals that the trend has worsened. As of July 27, 2026, the data shows that curbside dining setups are located overwhelmingly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and for the most part, in wealthy neighborhoods.
Just 1% of curbside dining locations are in neighborhoods making $60,000 or less, fewer than last year. In the Bronx and Queens, there are 1% and 4.5% of curbside setups respectively, also a reduction from last year. 94.24% of curbside dining setups are located in Manhattan or Brooklyn, and 83% of them are located in neighborhoods with an area median income of $100,000 or more. This represents a massive equity gap.
The equitable placement of curbside dining setups worsened in almost every category: they are located in fewer working class neighborhoods, less in the outer boroughs, and more in wealthy neighborhoods. And even the total amount of curbside setups in July 2026 is less than in June 2025 (747 vs. 954). We believe this is a result of flaws of the Dining Out NYC program, including the seasonal limitation of curbside dining; restaurants are only allowed to operate curbside setups from April to November.
The costs associated with seasonal curbside dining — set-up, take-down, and storage costs — are prohibitive to many restaurants who already operate on low margins and struggle to make ends meet. Other fees like revocable consent fees that must be paid immediately in full rather than in installments and fees to help publish the public hearing for their setup further discourage restaurants.
There are things we can do to make our curbside dining program more equitable, including:
Pass Int. 655 to make curbside dining year-round
Pass Int. 918, to allow restaurants to pay their revocable consent fees in quarterly installments, making start-up costs easier to manage for restaurants
Conduct more outreach in working class neighborhoods to provide information and assistance to restaurants to ensure all neighborhoods reap curbside dining’s benefits
By making a more equitable Dining Out NYC program, we can make sure every neighborhood benefits from curbside dining.