Babylon appears set to block rooftop dining for village restaurants

Relaxing on a rooftop with small bites and a beverage, a skyline stretching in the background, is a quintessential New York City experience.

But that vibe won’t be coming to Babylon Village if a new local law moves forward.

At a public hearing on Tuesday, Babylon Mayor Mary Adams introduced a proposal that “expressly prohibits any restaurant or commercial establishment from offering rooftop dining, whether that rooftop dining is outdoors or indoors.

“Rooftop dining shall be expressly prohibited everywhere within the village of Babylon.”

Board members raised concerns over safety, architecture, parking, and aesthetics.

“A lot of the structures are older,” Deputy Mayor Frank Seibert said, adding he might consider it for new construction. “Even then, I’d have reservations about it.”

Rooftop dining areas require a secondary means of egress, which would mean retrofitting buildings with indoor staircases or adding exterior stairs from a roof to the parking lot below. To make a space accessible to people who use wheelchairs, an elevator would also be needed.

Trustee Anthony Cardali agreed that safety and access concerns tied to the age of most buildings in the village make the idea impractical. “To retrofit emergency access to these rooftop units would probably not be architecturally pleasing, nor would it actually be safe,” he said. “So, I think we’re on the right track.”

Adding capacity to a restaurant by opening up a rooftop could also increase parking needs. Noise was also cited as a potential issue.

The board ultimately reserved its decision on the new law, but with no public opposition voiced at the hearing, it appears likely to pass.

Currently, no restaurants in Babylon Village offer rooftop dining or have the ability to do so.

For now, al fresco dining will remain limited to patios and sidewalks.

---

Downtown Babylon Village looking west on Main Street on Sept. 25, 2005. (Credit: Mike White)