2023-08-15 13:38:42
What you should know
Outdoor dining was a part of the pandemic that a lot of people really liked, thanks to the street eating sheds that were installed in New York City and allowed many restaurants to continue operating when they mightn’t have diners inside. Some sheds were simple: wooden frames with basic cutouts for light, a few tables, the occasional plastic sheeting for protection from rain and snow. Other restaurants got more involved, choosing decor to match restaurant interiors and adding heaters, plants, and plush seating. As New York City has moved beyond pandemic-era regulations, how to handle the new landscape of outdoor eating structures has been a growing question. While many still like the sheds and restaurants want to keep them, others say they no longer need them. Some have raised concerns such as increased noise and congestion, loss of street space, and argued that some are abandoned, dilapidated structures that are an eyesore.
NEW YORK — Eating al fresco was a part of the pandemic that many people really liked, thanks to the street eating sheds that were installed in New York City and allowed many restaurants to continue operating when they mightn’t. have diners inside.
Some sheds were simple: wooden frames with basic cutouts for light, a few tables, the occasional plastic sheeting for protection from rain and snow. Other restaurants got more involved, choosing decor to match the restaurant’s interiors and adding heaters, plants, and plush seating.
As New York City has moved beyond pandemic-era regulations, how to handle the new landscape of outdoor dining structures has been a growing question. While many still like the sheds and restaurants want to keep them, others say they no longer need them. Some have raised concerns such as increased noise and congestion, loss of street space, and argued that some are abandoned, dilapidated structures that are an eyesore.
City officials have now taken steps to make cookouts a permanent part of New York City’s streetscape, but with conditions. Earlier this month, the New York City Council passed legislation that would create a system that would allow businesses to install eating sheds on city streets from April through November and remove them in the winter months.
Curbside dining would still be allowed year-round, as it was before the pandemic. Now, it’s allowed in more parts of the city.
Much like the mix of sentiments regarding the sheds themselves, there has been a wide range of reactions to the new system, though the details are still being worked out. The processes, for permits, fees and licences, as well as design requirements, have yet to be decided. Full compliance is scheduled to come into effect in November 2024.
Many restaurants would have preferred to see outdoor dining allowed permanently, but are happy to see that it will still be possible for most of the year, said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, a trade group for restaurants. and city establishments.
“Of all the gloom regarding the pandemic, one of the bright spots was outdoor dining,” he said. “By using a small area on the road, you can create a whole new experience for people who are dining out, people who are walking.”
“I think it creates, when done correctly, a much more livable and vibrant streetscape than just maintaining it or using it just for parking,” Rigie said.
Leif Arntzen, a member of the United Coalition for an Equitable Urban Policy, mightn’t disagree more. He and his group are strongly opposed to the expansion of sidewalk diners on highway pavements. They said the city should be doing a neighborhood impact study before taking steps to make it permanent.
“For residents, it’s less space on the sidewalk, less space on the driveway, less space to go up and down the block, less quiet, less emergency access, it’s just less,” he said. “It’s more for one industry, less for everyone else.”
Mathias Van Leyden, owner of the LouLou bistro in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, sympathizes with those put off by the makeshift structures, some of which have been abandoned in the city and graffitied or vandalized.
But not his, Van Leyden said, noting that he invested a significant amount in an outdoor shed that has windows, is decorated and is portable.
“Some people are not doing it right, they are the ones that make us look bad,” he said.
Even with the requirement to remove sheds during the winter months, he’s happy to see the city agree to continue dining on the street.
“We are glad that New York is moving in that direction,” he said. It’s “a bit more European, where we have people sitting outside, it makes the street a bit livelier.”
Valarie Marrs is not sold. She was sitting in the streetside shed of an East Village restaurant recently and called the pop-up structures “terrible.”
“They dirty the street so much that they take away the aesthetics of the streets,” he said. “They are garbage magnets, they are horrible.”
Sitting next to him, Daniel Laitman disagreed. “I like them,” he said. “If it’s too hot inside the ovens, it’s a cool space, and if it’s not that hot, then it’s like a breeze coming in from everywhere.”
Maulin Mehta, the New York director of the Regional Plan Association, an organization that advocates for infrastructure and other issues and supports alternative uses of city streets, called City Council legislation for a permanent program a step forward.
“I think there is a way to do this right. And now that we have this framework, the legislation, we can start thinking regarding the future program,” Mehta said.
He said: “It gives us an opportunity to go beyond the emergency crisis and really think regarding the future of our streets and sidewalks.”
Associated Press video journalist David R. Martin contributes
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