Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights (Google Maps)
Aug. 17, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Three pedestrian plazas and one block in Queens will be made into outdoor dining corridors for nearby restaurants as the newest locations are added to the city initiative to support local eateries.
Corona Plaza in Corona, Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights and 71st Avenue Plaza in Ridgewood will get more tables and chairs for surrounding restaurants to serve patrons outside, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.
An adjacent block to Diversity Plaza, 37th Road from 75th Street to 74th Street, will also close to traffic on weekends to allow eateries to use the roadway as an ad hoc dining area.
De Blasio announced 21 more locations for the city’s “Open Streets: Restaurants” initiative Friday, including the three Queens plazas and a Jackson Heights block.
The new borough locations are additional to four already-announced Queens streets that are part of the program to help restaurants bounce back from the months-long COVID-19 shutdown.
Last month, he announced that the city’s in-street dining program will run through October, instead of its original end date on Labor Day.
“Rebuilding a fairer and better city means using our urban landscape creatively, and I’m proud to build on the success of our Open Streets program,” he said in a statement. “New Yorkers have sacrificed so much during this crisis and they deserve the opportunity to safely enjoy their neighborhoods and communities.”
Other Queens streets that are closed to traffic on weekends for outdoor dining are listed below.
(NYC DOT)
The hours for weekend dining are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday nights and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
There are 76 participating streets and nine pedestrian plazas citywide.
Indoor dining remains closed indefinitely to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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