January 29, 2003

Statement from Gretchen Dykstra, Commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs Regarding the City Council's Passage of the Sidewalk Café Bill 

"We are thrilled with the City Council's unanimous decision to pass Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to streamline the sidewalk café approval process. Now it will be much easier to operate legal cafes and it will be easier for DCA to take aggressive action against restaurants that repeatedly violate the law. City agencies, restaurant owners, communities, and advocates worked together to dramatically improve a system that was unnecessarily burdensome to the City, its business owners and communities."