Roadway Cafe — Maximum Length 40 ft, Maximum Width 8 ft, Emergency Travel Lane 15 ft

Per 34 RCNY §5-11(b), each roadway cafe (or each portion of a roadway cafe) may be at most 40 feet long parallel to the curb and at most 8 feet wide perpendicular to the curb. DOT may require a width less than 8 ft based on roadway geometry (lane width, bike-lane or parking-lane presence, intersection proximity). A 15-foot emergency travel lane must be maintained on the roadway at all times — DOT may permit less only with an FDNY letter of no objection. Cafes wider than 8 ft, longer than 40 ft, or pushed into the active travel lane are out of compliance.

• roadway cafe visibly longer than two adjacent parking spaces (~40 ft) without a break
• barrier-to-barrier width extending past the parking-lane stripe into the travel lane
• less than ~15 ft of clear travel lane between barrier and median or opposing parking lane
• cafe occupying more than the curb-to-parking-stripe envelope

1. Photograph the whole setup from the street, with the length and width in frame and something known for scale.
2. Note the address, and whether the cafe has a DOT permit or an approved plan on file.
3. File at 311 under Outdoor Dining and describe the measurement you took.
4. A cafe with no permit at all is a permit question as much as a size one — say whether one is posted.

Official channel: portal.311.nyc.gov or dial 311. Agency: NYC DOT.

DOT can issue a Notice of Violation for a roadway cafe that is too long, too wide, or badly placed, and can require it to change or to go. The amount and the remedy are set by the violation and the site history.

DOT Sidewalk Café Inspection measures the setup against its permit and the approved plan, and can require the cafe to change or remove it.

• What 311 does after you file