Under current city rules, licensed roadway cafés can operate from April 1 through Nov. 29.
In recent days, we've spotted curbside dining setups of various sizes going up around the East Village (bottom two photos by Stacie Joy)...
Meanwhile, the City Council is expected to advance legislation that would again allow year-round operation of roadway dining setups.
The change would eliminate the need for restaurants to dismantle and rebuild curbside setups each season. This costly and time-consuming process has contributed to a sharp drop in outdoor dining citywide, according to Crain's.
The proposal, led by Brooklyn Council Member Lincoln Restler, reportedly has support from Council leadership, the mayor's office and hospitality groups. However, opponents have concerns about sanitation, design, and the loss of parking spaces.
A City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on the bills was held on March 3. During roughly three hours of public testimony — with 47 speakers — some opponents of the year-round plan noted that only one committee member remained in the room for the duration.
Supporters of the measure say a permanent program would better support small businesses and neighborhood activity.
"Seasonal outdoor dining has shown how our streets can serve people first," Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, told EVG via email.
Restler told Crain's that it's important the measure passes before summer so businesses have time to plan ahead for 2027.
For now, the seasonal setups are back — and the debate continues.
Previously on EV Grieve:
43 comments:
Here we go again!
curbside dining is a really bad idea in this congested city. ( don’t tell the rats I said this )
curbside dining is a really good idea in this congested city, much better than using the space for storing private vehicles.
Rats are bad tippers.I like the outside dining if it is properly managed.
well I guess that's me back to walking in the street all summer, or possibly forever, since the sidewalks now belong to the restaurants
Oh boy, here we go again. As a former server who endured working in one of these outdoor sheds during the stifling heat of summer with rats and cockroaches running amok and who happens to live near a restaurant with a large shed, I hope it remains seasonal due to the filth from patrons left behind not to mention the constant annoyance of loud noises/ voices. If this receives all year approval, I will move to the bowels of another borough.
I don’t mind the outside dining as long as the sheds are well maintained and kept clean. On occasion I like to dine outdoors. I do like the seasonal aspect of it. I don’t know how it would work in the winter months, especially if we get as much snow as we had this year. I understand everyone’s concerns, but it’s kind of nice to have a glass of wine outside in the sun now and again.
I'm not a fan of walking in the street; I'd be the first to join any pedestrians-rights group that springs up.
fantastic, better seats than cars.
you are SO correct....the blight is back.....
Really hate this. Feels so unclean, like when there are mounds of snow around. It’s amazing to me that what round sidewalk isn’t enough. So weird.
Uhh ok. It’s a road. For transportation. That we all use. And the spaces are public. And the cars aren’t stored lmao, they’re parked and they move when used what are you even saying?
what is not explained - or defined: outdoor sidewalk seating is not in question....it will always remain. it is the restaurant occupiers of the public space (roadbed shacks) which are the problem. ask any fireman about the existence of these problematic structures and they will tell you how bad they are - for limiting passage of fire vehicles, access to hydrants,..and mostly -- stating that if you live in a building with a restaurant shack in front ...be very, very worried - as fires are extremely difficult to extinguish with this situation
Yea try living above one of these sheds, no rest whatsoever
Ugh. Trash, rats, noise 12 months a year. Aren't sidewalk cafes enough? This isn't Paris.
@scuba diva, you might be interested in CueUp NY. www.cueupny.com/
anyone who has lived in new york for any amount of time knows that the city is and always has been filled with trash, rats, and noise....people need to grow up
Especially on weekends when the bros and hoes congregate en masse & keep shouting over each other.
My block, East 9 St between 2nd and 1st Aves, is a narrow one car lane, a bike lane and parking on two sides. It is also a cross-town BUS lane! The sheds are only one obstacle making this a mess. One double-parked car (running in to get coffee at Mudd) or delivery truck & traffic STOPS! And the honking STARTS. If they're not double-parking in the street, they're parked in the bike lane and causing traffic jams especially for the bus drivers. I'm tired of losing sleep over restaurant noise and car honking.
Can we stop with the "storing private cars" straw man? Maybe 2% of the opposition bemoans the loss of parking. All the gains go to the restaurants, all the losses to their neighbors. THAT'S what this is about, don't pretend anything else.
Parked cars are quiet.
Agree on all fronts. My only real concern is snow plowing. The rats and noise complaints make no sense to me when many restaurants have back patios and nobody reasonably complains about that.
"anyone who has lived in new york for any amount of time knows that the city is and always has been filled with trash, rats, and noise....people need to grow up"
As a lifer here, this take is so bogus. Coming soon the rube "move to" line? The former server 's post runs true. And this post:
"The rats and noise complaints make no sense to me when many restaurants have back patios and nobody reasonably complains about that."
They do make sense because the back patios are not as all a valid comparison. Again , the former server's post. And there was massive ignoring of the regs for these shacks.
"Can we stop with the "storing private cars" straw man?"
100%!
Then try living above a shed and get back to us.
Great spaces with openings underneath for harboring rats.
I have lived in NYC all my life. Yes the city does have trash, rats, noise but why add to it when restaurants have ample opportunity to make money by indoor and outdoor sidewalk cafe dining as they did before Covid. At least during the 4 months of vacancy we have a necessary clean up and a chance for the poor people who live upstairs from these venues to get some sleep at night.
Also, do you really think people are going to sit outside (even with overhead heaters) in the middle of the frigid winter when they could side inside (unlike during Covid)? No. And the sheds will turn into homeless encampments.
The side streets are not good for outdoor dining the street and sidewalks are too small. They are better off on larger avenue streets. You don’t get the same people watching views as you do in Paris.
Tell that to the guy that sits in his car every. Single. Morning. Beeping the horn while his car idles. He never moves it. The street sweeper goes around it. And he has nothing better to do.
Cars must move at least twice per week for street cleaning. These shacks could potentially provide rats shelter and food 365 days per year. Public space should not be privatized for one industry, these sheds are illegal.
Classic case of give 'em an inch (during the pandemic), they take a mile. Who knows if some cash or favors changed hands for this situation to be able to continue. Certainly not unheard of in NYC. And I agree, the tired "free storage for cars" argument should be given a rest. I did my time riding a bike in my 20s and 30s and witnessed enough gruesome accidents to understand riding isn't a great idea anymore in my 50s, with slower reflexes and roads crowded with delivery bikers and tourists on Citibikes. If I require a car to get to work or to look after family members, and the train or bus won't cut it for my specific purposes, then I don't see what the problem is.
Many of the sheds on Clinton devour the sidewalk with no room to walk without someone brushing up against you or running into a server with plates of hot food. And one can't even walk on the street unless you wish to be hit by a car or a delivery guy from door dash. Don't get me started with guys on mopeds that drive on the sidewalk with no regard for human lives. While many welcome the idea of sitting outside in the heat sniffing street fumes, the rest of us are trying to avoid eminent danger.
I worked at a restaurant in the west village where two dead rats were discovered under the shed when it was disassembled for the winter, which explained the foul scent that lingered for weeks, even though we cleaned it daily. The owner spent 20k just to take it down and place it in storage. He recently chose not to reapply for another license because of the expense and maintenance of owning a shed. I think many are realising it's just not worth it anymore. 2020 and 2021 are long behind us. Time to retire these eyesores for good.
Shit is wack AF. Makes the streets feel so much less open. Why can't a street just be a street anymore? I love sitting al fresco in nice weather but the sidewalk is enough and those are barely following the rules themselves.
Amplifying CUEUPNY https://www.cueupny.com/ who have been fighting roadbed dining since 2021.
I am all for outdoor dining. I would ALSO like to see the city step up sanitation enforcement for litter and debris on the sidewalk. Lately the sidewalks in front of businesses including restaurants in the EV have litter, cigarette butts, other mess (including food) that lingers for days. Trash needs to be swept and it needs to be hosed off daily to prevent attracting rats and pests. Restaurants all used to do this at either the beginning or end of shift.
Hey. Why don't we all just disinvent the wheel now? The whole reason why the "grid' system was set up in NYC was to accommodate vehicular traffic.
Woohoo we're so back! Love outdoor dining
I enjoy dining outdoors and being on streets where people are dining outdoors
I hope restaurants make more money as I enjoy their presence more than smoke shops, banks or other perennial openings.
Instead ticket people for throwing trash on the street when there are trash cans on every corner.
YIKES. That's obtusely wrong. Please wiki 'the grid and it's EVERYTHING,' start with the dates...and then give yourself a education on when CARS and VEHICLES took over... streets are literally for everyone and everything. They are life. See ephemeral ny please. Wow. Car brain is literally scary. See this right here!!! When Abe Lincoln drove his car to the ol Cooper Union... great times... .. . WOW
Just a note to the backyard patio comparison people DO complain and often just not here on EVG many of the outdoor patios in the back are a ear sore and a detriment as well and 311 gets a lot of complaints about them don't kid yourself that they aren't also a nuisance in some cases worse than the sheds
The ongoing myth that the city and area has always been noisy and out of control is just that a myth propagated by people who use it to fit their narrative the sound levels and impact has been so bad the last decade and really off the hook post covid that the myth is sorta becoming manufactured reality
Hospitality and Real Estate have a choke hold on the nabe and do not care about the people who choose and chose to make the East Village and LES HOME rather than a stop on someones post college 20's adventure it's a shame
Dining sheds are a really bad idea, for multiple reasons, as mentioned by many people here. Even many of the establishments without sheds are problematic. La Tequeira on Saint Marks Places is very small inside so very often the beer bros that frequent this joint hang out on the sidewalk, very loud & boisterous, while they drunkenly cheer on the Dodgers til the wee hours. Pathetic
I challenge anyone who has not worked in hospitality, hence restaurants, to do so, as a waiter, who has to serve customers in the shed, during the most humid of days, and subsequently clean them afterwards while a few utilise it as a toilet when you're not looking, and then possibly reevaluate your thoughts about your enthusiasm for them. I detest these sheds. They take up too much room and leave little to no room for passerby. The noises can be heard all day from neighbours who live on top of these restaurants and complain to us and management on a daily basis. Many are just dirty and smell with little upkeep. I pray to the goddesses above that this program is not approved for the entire year. 86 the sheds.
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