What once felt like just a normal Brooklyn experience for the last four years, has now become a heavy burden for restaurant owners like George Kontolios.

“When outdoor dining first opened up,” said Kontolios. “It helped us, it helped us have an area for people to sit and bring the community together.”

However, after the City Council made the once easy-going program permanent, new rules this year changed everything for him.

The most crucial change for Empanada Loca was that the nearly $30,000 investment in their roadway structure had to be taken down.

A new permit is also needed for it to return, only seasonally.

While sidewalk dining is open all year round, roadway dining is permitted from April 1 to Nov. 29 each year.

“We had to hire a contractor to build it out,” said Kontolios. “I would say it took about, between $20,000 to $30,000 in material to put it up. We had a drunk driver drive past ours and crash into it, so we had to reinvest another $20,000 to rebuild it.”

By the time Kontolios spent thousands more to get rid of his roadway space earlier this year, he’d already racked up several tickets from the city because he did not take it down on time.

NYC DOT required all restaurants to deconstruct existing outdoor dining structures by November 2024.

“After I put my $1,500 application in, I started getting harassed by the city to take it down because it wasn't up to the regulation,” said Kontolios. "I think I was getting $500 tickets daily. I called the city to ask if I'd get my $1,500 back and they said, that's just for the application. We're keeping that.”

The application fee for sidewalk and roadway cafes is $1,050 each. Businesses must pay $2,100 if they want to apply for both.

A spokesperson for DOT also tells News 12 that the agency does not have any application on file from a restaurant called Empanada Loca, despite Kontolios saying he did apply before.

“I didn’t see the value in it anymore,” said Kontolios. “I think I’ve put more out than I’ve gained.”

According to DOT, in Brooklyn, there are 788 total setups permitted to operate. However, the city does not track how many of those permits are actually put to use.

The changes to outdoor dining is also in part due to previous complaints about noise, sanitation and accessibility.