Monday, May 22, 2023

Report of a fire in an abandoned curbside dining structure on St. Mark's Place

According to multiple residents this morning (after 8), a man allegedly set fire to the abandoned curbside dining structure outside 102 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Firefighters immediately extinguished the blaze. It was not immediately known if the man had been living inside the structure ... his whereabouts were also not known after the fire...
Last Wednesday, the Department of Transportation issued a "Termination" notice for this dining structure outside Compilation Coffee, which closed one week after the streetery arrived last November.

Meanwhile, city officials are still debating the future of outdoor dining. Part of a proposed bill "would allow 'streeteries' — aka the dining sheds on the streets — to stay up from April through November each year," NBC New York reported on Friday. 

Reader-submitted photos

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

THIS! This is why most dining sheds need to go at this point. I've witnessed the grossest, the nastiest of things people have done and have left in these eyesores during my latest stretch as a bartender and waiter in the west village. What is so frustrating is what businesses such as this who just leave the shed in its disheveled state, and fail to facilitate its demotion. Luckily, no one was hurt during this fire, but what would happen if it did?

Anonymous said...

The sheds need to go. This town is dirty enough. When I visit my relatives in the suburbs, they don’t even have street cleaning because people don’t litter there. Here in NYC, for some reason, a lot of people just don’t feel required to act civilized. I’m not sure but I think that most people who litter here don’t live here. They’ve just visiting here to get drunk.

Anonymous said...

No, we need more sheds like this. If you knock down this shed cars will park there and the world will end. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about—I’ve an MA in anthropology!

Anonymous said...

Yea 5:20 nailed it's time for all the sheds to go the one's on 6h between 1st and 2nd are shanty shacks maybe a sstrong wind will knock em down and the garbage on the east side of 1st ave off st marks toward 7th street has a pile of food trash everyday and has been on going since the shed went up it's disgusting and also scary as hell walking by there a night oh man it's woodstock for rats

Anonymous said...

Heads up - City Council has current bill to make restaurant shacks=rat resorts permanent.
Restaurant lobby basically got to create rules.
(Small shops keep getting screwed by the City)

Check in with City Council ASAP.

Anonymous said...

Here's a standard contrary comment. I like the sheds. They should be taxed and regulated. They should probably have to go through the Community Board, that'll be fun, and have to face down the irate locals from their block ... hellooo evgrieve comment thread.

I live by a bunch of them and they do impede the sidewalks often on a busy night. I've never actually eaten in one but I don't eat out around here anymore because all my favorites closed. But I think they add something to downtown and, if it matters (it shouldn't) I've been here since Ike.

Anonymous said...

I think the "fix" is in with the City Council and we will all be stuck living with these effin' sheds and the resultant rats FOREVER, b/c as far as I can see, the wishes of the actual citizens who live here count for ZERO.

Put this issue on the BALLOT and let's have a VOTE on it! Then we'll see what THE PEOPLE WANT, instead of what the greedy restaurant owners want.

Anonymous said...

How do small shops get screwed? This isn't a problem with the sheds themselves. If you are worried about cleanlieness push the city to get garbage bags off the sidewalk.

Anonymous said...

It seems like a lot of people aren’t paying attention.
The future of the sheds seems to be this:
April-November using the street will be permitted but it must be removed starting December, which means the sheds as they currently are will likely be removed and something less permanent and more regulated will be created. Probably no flooring etc.
Sidewalk dining permitted year round, as long as there is a 6-8’ clearance for pedestrians.
The businesses will pay the city in the form of permits and not everyone will qualify.
I don’t like a lot of the sheds as they are now, but if the city gets some money and they are regulated and tidied up, what’s the harm?

Anonymous said...

These should be built like the ones at Veselka - just partition walls off the ground, and patrons sit right on the asphalt. Then there's no where for rats to nest.

Anonymous said...

The harm is that resturants need to spend to build and tear down sheds twice a year! Why should free car parking be prioritized?!

Anonymous said...

Outdoor dining is great, and the upcoming new rules will make it better ie more minimal structures, 8 months a year. It should be just like sidewalk dining, but with planters to protect against cars. Not giant structures. And add noise rules (no music) and limit hours if need be, just like yards are controlled.

Anonymous said...

My concern is if the owners of these sheds will actually enforce its maintenance, its cleanliness, not to mention the safety of dining guests. Now that we are almost in summer, there is no way I will step foot in one of them because of the rotting stench from nearby garbage, the aroma of urine on the sidewalk, vermin, and the BO of passerby. Many of the sheds situated here in the EV are sad and unkempt. I've seen several in other neighborhoods which are better taken care of. But so many like this business close up shop and make no plans to break down the shed. It just sits there with litter, graffiti, and dirt. Why can't the city step up and ensure this stops happening?

Anonymous said...

E 7TH is a claustrophobic nightmare with those filthy shacks, WHY ARE THEY STILL THERE

Anonymous said...

@9:24 - ummm, because transportation matters a lot especially in a bustling city, and it's a road? Lol.

Anonymous said...

@10:51 ummm, it is a FREE PARKING SPOT

Anonymous said...

NO, it's NOT "FREE PARKING", people! Take a look at how much METERED PARKING actually costs. It's far from "free"!

In total, MORE people will use a metered parking space in a year than will use a dining shed. Dining sheds are exclusionary by definition, and they represent the triumph of private businesses (restaurants) over the PUBLIC land that is supposed to be available to ALL citizens. Dining sheds are a takeover of public space, and should not be allowed. There's no way the permit fees will compensate for the disruption caused by dining sheds (and certainly won't compensate for all the rats the sheds are a breeding ground for).

Maybe all the pro-shed people would see it differently if it meant removing bike lanes from use for April-November every year! Why should bike lanes escape the impact of these dining sheds?

Anonymous said...

I agree with full heartedly with 10:49 am.

I've lived on 7th street for over a decade. It can be claustrophobic depending on how many people are out, especially the weekends. There are open sheds with waiters working about with trays of food and drinks with little to no space as I circumvent around them. I've been run down by residents jogging, skateboarders, and cyclists immersed in their own world with their headphones on with little or no care for others. I am a live and let live kind of guy. But why can't they discover and utilize outdoor spaces which doesn't interfere with pedestrians? I thought we had rights too? If it weren't for these damn sheds, I would have somewhere else to hide or protect myself when these incidents happen. I pay a lot in rent and in taxes just like other fellow New Yorkers. It's BS. And I am over it. Get rid of the sheds. It's time.

Anonymous said...

Sheds gotta go, they have become unsafe for the neighborhood. Also it’s a land grab by restaurants that is no longer needed. Why not a few sidewalk tables instead?

Anonymous said...

The City Council has officially unveiled its Open Restaurants (permanent outdoor dining and sheds) bill called "Intro 31B". To find out more details and how to join the fight against permanent dining sheds and the rats, amplified music, trash, and rowdy noise problems, go to CUEUPNY.com for details and sign their petition. They are fighting AGAINST "Intro 31B" and the lobbyist-written, backroom deal, land grab it represents. CUEUPNY.com sends email updates on current news on this issue and talking points for calling and writing to your city council rep, Carlina Rivera, and to Mayor Adams.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Restaurant Owner - Tear down these walls.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the city will make enough funds to pay the salary of the Rat Czar…

Perfume junkie said...

I have lived in nyc for over 20 years. I have never been so disgusted with how the city is treating its actual citizens who live here, pay taxes, make it a community. All they care about is the restaurant industry and everyone else has to suffer the consequences. None of this makes any sense.

1. Outdoor dining was meant to have open-air space to stop the spread of covid. Not only is covid no longer an emergency but these spaces are built with walls, roofs, doors, etc. It's just another closed space!!! How is that safer?
2. Outdoor dining blocks our public sidewalks. I have to walk in the middle of the street (around the tables on the sidewalk AND their sheds on the street) to get around. How is that safe???
3. This free for all attracts only one type of industry (restaurants and bars) giving other small businesses no free outdoor space.
4. NOISE. My god, the NOISE. Loud, drunk people in large groups screaming all night long while they drink and eat. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the greedy owners also put out speaker systems blasting music!!! Who cares about the people upstairs, right?
5. Dangerous! Bikers, cars, pedestrians....we all have to work around these structures which block certain corners. FDNY, police, ambulances all have trouble getting through. It's a nightmare. But hey, as long as the restaurants can triple their seating outside, it's all fine, right?

The pandemic has shifted the energy of NYC. It's not just for partying and drinking outside. Forget the citizens. Forget other small businesses. The city just wants people to come in, drink, puke, litter then leave. Sadly, this is the first time in 20 years, I'm seriously considering leaving this hell hole of a city.

Anonymous said...

I need my car since I have mobility issues. RATS from these sheds have eaten wires and plastic things in my car engine area three times now! The insurance adjuster said that the car insurance companies are paying for these sheds being rat houses! Get rid of these! It's only a matter of time until someone gets trapped in one that's on fire. Maybe the city leaders will care then.