Aug. 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A section of Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria is the latest Queens street to turn into an outdoor dining corridor on weekends.
The boulevard, from 33rd Street to 36th Street, will close to traffic on weekends and open for outdoor restaurant seating, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
The road was one of six streets across the boroughs unveiled today that were added to the city’s “Open Streets: Restaurants” initiative. It’s also the sixth Queens street added to the program.
The city initiative is meant to help restaurants bring in business, while reducing the spread of COVID-19, as the virus is harder to transmit outdoors. The reopening of indoor dining is indefinitely postponed in New York City.
Other Queens streets that have become dining corridors each weekend are listed below.
37th Road, from 75th Street to 74th Street in Jackson Heights
70th Road, from Austin Street to Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills
Austin Street, from 72nd Avenue to 72nd Road in Forest Hills
Bell Boulevard, from 39th Avenue to 41st Avenue in Bayside
Woodside Avenue, from 76th Street to 78th Street in Elmhurst
The hours for most of the street closures are from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday nights and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays — unless otherwise specified. The streets are open to pedestrians and emergency vehicles only during those hours.
Today’s announcement brings the citywide total to 81 participating streets in the Open Streets: Restaurants program, which runs through Oct. 31.
“We’re continuing to reimagine our urban landscape and give small businesses more chance than ever to recoup their losses from COVID-19,” de Blasio said. “Restaurants and diners alike have loved this program from the beginning, and we’re proud to expand it even further.”
On Thursday, the mayor suggested he may extend the city’s outdoor dining program past its Halloween end-date.
