Meanwhile, in an op-ed published yesterday in the Daily News, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Jr., Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and City Councilmember Keith Powers called on City Council to pass legislation that will make it easier to get sidewalk sheds down in a timely fashion, while simultaneously making sure that the sheds that are up, are safer and less disruptive.
The three opined that curbside dining structures are "an example of a policy failure by our city leading to genuine quality-of-life issues and illegal activity growing under their awnings. There are numerous examples, from robberies to shootings, where the presence of sheds hindered law enforcement investigations because it often becomes much harder to get unobstructed footage of the offense from surrounding video cameras. Our government can and must do better."
They reminded residents that "we all know the feeling when a sidewalk shed that's been up for years finally comes down" but that "we don't have to take the status quo for granted." The authors concluded that "we can and must act now to shed the sheds and bring the light back to our streets."
By 11:59 p.m. Friday, bars and restaurants must remove street dining structures to align with the city's permanent Dining Out NYC program.
As previously noted, the significant change with the new guidelines is that enclosed, year-round roadway dining structures will no longer be permitted. The revised regulations stipulate that roadway cafes must now be open-air, easily portable, and simple to assemble and dismantle.
Additionally, these establishments are restricted to operating only from April through November. (Sidewalk cafes are permitted year-round.)
On Monday, workers started taking down the two structures outside Au Za'atar on the SE corner of Avenue A and 12th Street (thanks for the pic, Joe!)
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