Farmingdale Plans Outdoor Dining On Main Street After Reopening

FARMINGDALE, NY —When Long Island restaurants are allowed to reopen for on-site dining, restrictions on how many patrons are allowed will mean going out to eat will look a lot different. Farmingdale Village is considering a plan to close Main Street on weekend nights to allow restaurants to add outdoor tables and expand capacity under new restrictions designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Gov. Cuomo hasn't yet outlined a timeline of when Long Island restaurants will be allowed to open dining rooms, but when that happens there will likely be mandates about distance between occupied tables and numbers of diners allowed at one time.

Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand told Newsday that the plan will add over 400 seats on Friday and Saturday nights on a closed stretch of Main Street, allowing restaurants to add 10 to 18 outdoor seats each. The plan is designed to help the hard-hit local restaurants stay economically afloat, at least for a little longer.