NEW YORK (PIX11) — The thousands of outdoor dining sheds that have changed the face of New York City streets may soon be forced to hibernate during the winter.

The New York City Council is considering a plan to make outdoor dining legislatively permanent, but in doing so allow them to stand only on a seasonal basis.

“With this thing, we get a lot of business,” said Andres Rendon, owner of Terrace Restaurant on 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Rendon said he put about $15,000 into building and maintaining his outdoor dining space.

Dining sheds were a pandemic lifeline to restaurants and have continued to generate revenue for many restaurants year-round, particularly on nice days along busy neighborhood corridors.

But that “year-round” part of the plan is coming under question.

Open streets advocates, like Jackson Chabot with Open Plans, are sounding the alarm on a City Council proposal that would make them seasonal.

“Most restaurants do not have storage places for something like this,” Chabot said. “So if they don’t have a place to put it, they are most likely not going to be participating in the program.”

The argument for moving away from permanent sheds is that many of them go unused and fall into disrepair during the winter. The city has, in fact, begun tearing down some of these structures.

Additionally, it is hard for the sanitation department to keep things clean — and New York City is facing a lawsuit by some residents who argue that non-restaurant businesses are hurt by the space they take up.

“Yes, there may not be every day where there’s a great use, but it’s still a high-value use to the city and to the restaurants across the city,” Chabot argued.

The Adams administration is supportive of outdoor dining and insists details are still being worked out.

A spokesperson for the City Council speaker’s office echoed the sentiment:

“Discussions with the Administration and stakeholders are ongoing, and no bill has been finalized yet. Reports to the contrary are premature. The Council is continuing to work on a bill that creates a permanent outdoor dining program for the City that strikes the right balance for our restaurants, neighborhoods, and all New Yorkers.”