Restaurants across New York City can finally begin serving meals to patrons in their sidewalk and roadway eating spaces on Tuesday. They were once a staple of the pandemic, but those outdoor dining sheds disappeared in November as new rules went into effect in the city,

Outdoor dining is officially back in New York City, but with a new set of seasonal rules and plenty of confusion. Restaurant owners say the updated program—requiring permits and liquor license alterations—is expensive and unclear.