Saturday, December 10, 2022

Workers remove Somtum Der's curbside dining structure

From the EVG tipline... workers from a private hauler were out early this morning removing Somtum Der's curbside dining structure outside 85 Avenue A between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

The streetery didn't appear to be in use any longer. Plus, as of June, this lane south of Sixth Street is a No Standing zone, and parking is not allowed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. seven days a week. 

The signs arrived ahead of the new Bus Only lane on the southbound section of Avenue A.

The nearby Takahachi removed its curbside structure back in August. 

Updated:

22 comments:

  1. Hurray, I nor most people won't sleep until they are all gone. PS, no plans to go back to Ohio so please don't suggest that.

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  2. Restaurants should be able to keep them as long as they maintain and actually USE them! Too many open restaurants don't even bother with them.

    With the high levels of COVID-19, flu, and RSV cases this winter, I will only eat outdoors. Veselka has a good set up that's still operational.

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  3. @10:11am: "Restaurants should be able to keep them as long as they maintain and actually USE them!" Why do you say that? Are you in favor generally of NYC giving public land away for free in perpetuity to private for-profit businesses?

    Because if you *are* in favor, then my local butcher, shoe repair shop, thrift shop, bakery, and hair salon would each like their slice of the street for free, too! In your view, that should be just fine, amirite?

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    Replies
    1. How would they use it?

      I think it’s probably a better use of public space than car storage

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    2. 12.18 pm.....Absurd response. You might think...or in reality a curbside Smoke Shop????

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    3. SORRY,I meant 12.13 pm response.

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  4. Finally! I am in full favor of eliminating these monstrosities, especially if they aren't in use. As someone who works in a restaurant, I can tell you first hand many of these are hardly utilized now, especially during the colder months. And if they aren't properly maintained and cleaned regularly, they are breeding grounds for vermin and litter not to mention criminal activity. The less of them, the better.

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  5. While removing the structure, I watched at least 10 rats scurrying across the sidewalk and street. Wish I was exaggerating.

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    Replies
    1. A follow up....rats ....I kind of love them....---when we do not meet--of course...they were desperately fleeing for their lives when they were removing this shit shack---like what animal... wouldn"t... This whole mess is tragic!!! I do love the view of Avenue A is now beginning to breathe again.

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  6. I would not eat at any restaurant who had a poorly maintained outdoor dining space that just tell me they care about cleanliness

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  7. as if traffic wasnt bad enough on Ave A.. a bus only lane? Its not even wide enough for that.

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  8. @1:01pm: I don't eat at any restaurant that has an outdoor dining shed, period.

    Firstly, b/c I don't support businesses that are still using - for free - land that that taxpayers are paying for.

    Secondly, b/c I can easily imagine all the gross things that have possibly been all over the floor, the seats, and the table tops of these sheds; none of it is appealing.

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  9. There should have been a proposal about
    this on the ballot at the last election in
    November. As a democracy, we vote on things
    to approve or not approve ideas. I think this
    was intentionally not on the ballot because
    the restaurant industry used their powerful
    influence to make sure we the tax paying
    citizens weren’t allowed to interfere with this
    unfair money making bullshit situation that
    favors one private individual, at everyone else’s
    expense. Tear down the sheds. All of them.

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  10. They should be removed if not in use or not properly maintained, and wonderful that the bus lane can be extended to this block (just need more enforcement). Funny that people are outraged about restaurants using curbside space "for free", but pretend that storage of private mini-living rooms (cars) is somehow a god-given right so they can go to Costco or to Long Island on the weekend. At least the average person can go in and eat at a restaurant, whereas car owners are a minority in this neighborhood.

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    Replies
    1. I own a car. It’s not a freebie. I pay taxes and I pay for my car registration. So your argument doesn’t hold water.

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    2. But that doesn’t come with a parking space.

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    3. 2:31 pm - I wasn’t gifted a permanent parking spot. I have to find one among the rat sheds, the bike lanes, the bike racks. All of which were not strategically planned and poorly executed in this congested, overpopulated town. So we all have gripes and never will we all agree on things.

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  11. I think You all Missed the boat if you haven’t been talking to your council
    Members. I got this email in early November: Dear friends, neighbors, and fellow New Yorkers!

    The City Council is poised to vote on their Permanent Open Restaurants legislation before Thanksgiving.
    The final legislation is being crafted right now.
    Your Council Member needs to hear from you right now. 
    
As you might imagine, our well-funded opponents at the Hospitality Alliance have a seat front and center at the table and are pushing hard for several items, including: (1) a year-round program outdoor dining program (translation: heating and cooling the outdoors); (2) continued use of roadway seating and structures for the bar and restaurant industry (aka: no street sweeping); (3) NYC-DOT “control” of the program (keeping it with the agency that failed to regulate even the most egregious offenders); and non-compliance fines so low (from $0-50 dollars!) that they incentivize rule-breaking.

    Now is the time to take action. 
    Please take a minute to write to your Council Member. 
    Forward this email to other concerned New Yorkers.
    And, if you run a neighborhood group, please send this email, or a similar email, to your mailing list.
     
    P.S. So far the City Council has decided not to hold a single hearing on this new legislation. Read our Open Letter to City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams on the Council’s responsibility to hold hearings (published in the Village Sun online and print - photo attached.)

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  12. Thank you for this post

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  13. Love that, but sad to also lose all that parking, vehicles need somewhere to pull over and park, the city has such a lack of needed parking

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  14. Anon 5:40 that's a very weird statement. It's for transportation. For me and my work, where I need to carry around equipment and go to different locations, as well as for family and outdoor activities, is why I have a car. It's public parking, different people share it, not one business.

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  15. I can see this making sense even at a loss of all this parking but they're not opening up other space for public parking elsewhere, so where are people supposed to park when they are using a car? I just saw a new "No Standing Anytime" sign added to East Third and B on the side street as well. Seems completely nonsensical. Who is looking at this stuff? It's gotten crazy.

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