The Town of Hempstead announced Thursday an extension on the outdoor dining initiative.

The program helped businesses stay afloat as the pandemic phase of outdoor dining took off.

The initiative waives building permit fees so that businesses can create outdoor seating sections in spaces like parking lots or sidewalks.

Frank Borrelli say it's been a huge help for Borrelli's, which has been open in East Meadow for 66 years.

"Without it, we probably wouldn't have survived that first year, and with help from the Barstool Fund, as everybody knows, it kept my doors open for an extra few months," he says.