Thursday, February 17, 2022
[Updated] City is removing abandoned curbside dining structure on Avenue A and 6th Street
Monday, January 10, 2022
Abandoned curbside dining structures attracting more attention on the NE corner of 6th and A
Monday, December 27, 2021
City posts notice of a clean up in the abandoned curbside dining structure on 6th Street
Monday, August 2, 2021
The two-story dining structure that almost was on 4th Street
Kanayama said he wanted to add extra outdoor space as COVID cases are rising once again, but reiterated that he was taking down the upper level. "I thought the only potential to create more seating was this," he said. The plan had been to lay fake turf upstairs and make the area more like a park or lawn than a restaurant with tables and chairs. "I was basically looking for the best we could do under the restrictions by being more creative and ambitious."
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Reports from CB3's public review of the Open Restaurants program
It was HIGHLY CONTENTIOUS. It was supposed to be an 85-person cap but the place was packed and there was still a line outside. The DOT presentation drew a lot of negative attention from the crowd, who were frustrated with their inability to speak.
The DOT speech was interrupted constantly with claims of a filibuster and frustration that the community wasn't given time to speak. When they finally were given time, each person was given one-minute. Everyone was yelling and it was a mess.Several media outlets covered the event. Here's a selection (update — added the Curbed entry at 1 p.m.):
"This whole program is going to turn our area into an open-air alcohol zone," echoed David Crane, a longtime CB3 member. One resident said he'd been forced to listen to "'Happy Birthday' sung outside my window 20 times a day," as others shouted that "this isn't Paris!"
While local business owners were largely absent from the meeting, they too expressed anger with the DOT's handling of the program. Moshe Schulman, a managing partner of Kindred on 6th Street, said the agency had conducted a "sweep" just prior to the meeting, handing out citations for offenses such as being too close to a tree and blocking a "no parking" sign.
He was given just 24 hours to address the violations, which he described as "ridiculous and inaccurate." "People think we’re done with COVID and everything is all great," Shulman told Gothamist. “We’re just starting to get on our feet and try to normalize service.”• Streetsblog
There was plenty of talk of compromise and coexistence from the crowd of 90, but many attendees went nuclear, demanding no outdoor dining at all, denouncing struggling restaurants and bars as greedy land-grabbers, and, in one case, waving signs inspired by George Orwell's classic Dystopian novel: "1984: War is Peace. 2021: Residential is commercial."
One opponent was overheard outside the meeting comparing their struggle to that of Martin Luther King Jr. One speaker declared — to a room where more than half the people were still wearing masks — that the pandemic was over, and therefore outdoor dining should be, too.• The Village Sun
Residents bemoaned the transformation of their community into what might be dubbed "Bourbon Street with yurts."
"I love my neighborhood!" one man started yelling emotionally over and over, also mentioning his "mental health," as others applauded supportively.
One woman, in an apparent reference to the Black Death of the 14th century, a bubonic plague spread by fleas piggybacking on rats, warned that the outdoor huts could breed a repeat. "These sheds are rat traps!" she declared. "We are feeding rats. We just went through a pandemic — we are inviting the next pandemic with these sheds."
A young guy in his 30s named Sam Zimmerman stands up and speaks in support of the program — just the second person to do so thus far. He says the meeting's attendees are not representative of what the neighborhood actually thinks about streeteries, and that most people support the program. "People who are against it are people who come out to these things," he says, and is promptly booed. "There's 165,000 people in this district," he continues. "How many of them are here? People don't want to get screamed at by their neighbors." Everyone mumbles loudly, and someone yells "Where are you from?" and he responds: "From here!"
In addition to the zoning amendment, the City will move administration of the sidewalk café program from the Department of Consumer Affairs and Workforce Protection to DOT, streamline the application process and create rules for a permanent roadway dining program. Altogether, restaurants will have a single agency to go to apply for outdoor dining, with a clear set of design guidelines on what is allowed.
And:
The proposed zoning text amendment would affect every community district within the City. The proposed action would remove the definitions of sidewalk cafes from the Zoning Resolution and any mentions of them in special districts, as well as other clean-up text to fully remove any zoning prohibitions related to the operation of sidewalk cafes.
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Community Board 3 committees to discuss the longterm future of outdoor dining
In addition to the zoning amendment, the City will move administration of the sidewalk café program from the Department of Consumer Affairs and Workforce Protection to DOT, streamline the application process and create rules for a permanent roadway dining program. Altogether, restaurants will have a single agency to go to apply for outdoor dining, with a clear set of design guidelines on what is allowed.
And:
The proposed zoning text amendment would affect every community district within the City. The proposed action would remove the definitions of sidewalk cafes from the Zoning Resolution and any mentions of them in special districts, as well as other clean-up text to fully remove any zoning prohibitions related to the operation of sidewalk cafes.
"This meeting is your opportunity to share your concerns about whether/how this program should continue, and how it might be improved, while the details are still being hashed out. If this privatization of public space is to become permanent, residents and business owners should have input."The EVCC also calls attention to other issues that they see with the program.
This emergency program, while critical for struggling restaurants, has created untenable noise and sanitation issues for neighborhoods with high concentrations of eating and drinking establishments:
• amplified music, smoking and crowds below residents' windows
• bags of trash and discarded containers exacerbating rat problems
• choked paths for pedestrians and emergency vehicles
• fire safety concerns about the use and storage of propane heaters
None of these issues are readily resolved through the usual channels, leaving very little recourse for residents or business owners. This has not changed, even as problems worsen with increasing traffic as the City reopens.In addition, several neighbor groups — LES Dwellers, Orchard Street Block Association, the Chinatown Core and the East Fifth Street Block Association — are urging residents to voice any concerns about the Open Restaurants program... In an email, the group members state:
In many areas, the eating and drinking sheds have become severely problematic. As such, we are adamantly opposed to Outdoor Dining Sheds becoming a permanent fixture in NYC. We appreciate that these sheds were a lifeline for the hospitality industry during the pandemic and allowed residents a safe place to social distance.
Since COVID restrictions have been lifted, we think it is time for the emergency dining sheds to be retired, and the sidewalk cafe process is reinstated regarding alfresco dining.
However, you feel about the Open Restaurants program, no public input or proper environmental impact study was commissioned. Instead, the city rammed the sheds through behind closed doors with little to no oversight, calling it an unbridled success with few issues to resolve.
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Think Coffee's brand-new curbside dining space catches fire on 4th Avenue
Friday, February 12, 2021
Removing a curbside living space on 9th Street and Avenue C
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Snowplow collides with the Iggy's curbside space on Ludlow Street
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
A post-blizzard look at curbside dining structures
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Curbside dining space removed outside Lucy's on Avenue A
Monday, January 25, 2021
A message for Short Stories
Monday, November 30, 2020
1st Avenue curbside dining structure is gone with the wind (again)
[H]e hasn’t been able to install a sturdier structure because of the expense; this one, he says, cost him $2,000, and more substantial ones can cost more than ten times that figure. "If you want to do it permanently, it's a lot of money,” he says. Even though he's already looking into putting it back up, Khan says he's still unsure about how plausible outdoor dining will be once the weather turns from chilly to flat-out cold: "We have a heater and everything, and people [still] don't want to sit down." Over the past two weeks, Khan says, no diner has wanted to eat outside.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Hi, who does this random curbside dining space belong to on the Bowery?
Saturday, September 26, 2020
ICYMI: City makes outdoor dining permanent
Here are some particulars from the city's press release about how restaurants will able able to protect diners from the winter-time elements:
Heating
As cooler weather arrives, the City will allow restaurants to incorporate heating elements into their outdoor dining setups. Electrical heaters will be allowed on both sidewalk and roadway. Propane and natural gas heaters will be allowed on sidewalks only; they will remain prohibited in roadway seating. Propane will require a permit from FDNY and compliance with FDNY regulations for outdoor use, handling and secure outdoor tank storage overnight. Official guidance on what will be considered approved installation and use of heating elements will be released before the end of September, and restaurants are prohibited from installing heating elements until guidelines are released and followed.
Tents
Restaurants will also be permitted to use tent enclosures to keep diners warm. In partial tent enclosures, at least 50 percent of the tent’s side wall surface area must remain open and electrical heaters are allowed. In full tent enclosures, the tent’s side walls may be closed but occupancy limitations will be capped at 25 percent of capacity, and indoor dining guidelines must be followed; electrical heaters will also be allowed. Enclosed structures, such as plastic domes, will be allowed for individual parties and must have adequate ventilation to allow for air circulation.