One month on, a look at curbside dining in the East Village

[Gnocco, 10th Street]

We're one month into the city's Open Restaurants program — now in place through October — that allows for curbside dining.

Under an emergency program launched on June 22 as part of the Phase 2 reopening to aid the ailing restaurant industry, nearly 7,000 establishments citywide were authorized to serve food and drinks on sidewalks and curbside spaces.

It hasn't been easy. As previously reported, restaurateurs have had to scramble to stay ahead of the Department of Transportation's seemingly ever-changing guidelines for outdoor dining.

East Village spots such as Kindred, the Roost, Foxface and Il Posto Accanto were among the places that had to tear apart their previously OK'd curbside arrangements – within 24 hours and under the threat of losing their outdoor dining permit. (And we haven't even mentioned the fast-breaking thunderstorms and stifling heat that has added to the stress of the outdoor experience — for both staff and customers.)

Gov. Cuomo has also threatened to shut down bars and restaurants that allow patrons to congregate on sidewalks without social distancing and masks. "It's stupid what you're doing," he said on Monday.

As for the makeshift spaces, they are coming together, looking more comfortable by the day with the additions of paint, plants and patrons. Last week, freelance photographer Eric Leong documented the variety of outdoor dining structures in the East Village. "I enjoy seeing the creativity in designs," he said.

Here's a look at the spaces in action...


[Lavagna, 5th Street at B]


[Brazen Fox, 3rd Avenue at 12th Street]


[Maiden Lane, 10th and B]


[B-Side, Avenue B]


[9th Street at 3rd Avenue]


[Oh! Taisho, St. Mark's Place]


[St. Mark's Place]


[Kitchen Sink, 5th Street]


[Boilermaker, 4th Street]


[One and One, 1st Street at 1st Avenue]


[7B/Horseshoe Bar, 7th at B]


[Mary's O's, Avenue A]


[Amor y Amargo, 6th at A]


[TabeTomo, Avenue A]


[William Barnacle Tavern and Foxface, St. Mark's Place]


[Thursday Kitchen, 9th Street]


[Jeepney, 1st Avenue]


[3rd Avenue]


[Phebe's, the Bowery]

You can find more examples of outdoor dining at his website.

Horus Kabab House airs out their sidewalk cafe on 6th Street

[Photo Friday via @RatedRuwan]

Back on Friday, workers demolished the enclosed sidewalk cafe at Horus Kabab House on Avenue B at Sixth Street... to then unveil a new unenclosed sidewalk cafe...



Both Horus locations (10th and Avenue A being the other) have had noise and various law-enforcement issues in the past. According to the May 2008 CB3 minutes (PDF here), the Avenue B location "has had numerous noise complaints and received numerous summonses for being occupied over capacity and putting too many tables on the sidewalk and whose sidewalk café permit has recently been denied renewal."

Despite the discreditable past, CB3 approved the move from enclosed to unenclosed sidewalk cafe this past April. Per the minutes (PDF here) from that meeting:

WHEREAS, given the history of complaints in operating its previously permitted unenclosed sidewalk café, its violations in operating its premises, its 311 call history despite its now enclosed sidewalk café and the residential character of East 6th Street, Community Board 3 cannot approve a sidewalk café permit greater than eight (8) tables and sixteen (16) seats with limitations on its hours of operation;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Community Board 3 moves to approve the application for a sidewalk café permit for El Sayed 1 Corp., doing business as Horus Kabab House, for the premise located at 93 Avenue B, on the corner of Eats 6th Street and Avenue B, because the applicant has signed a change agreement which will become part of its DCA license that
1) its café will consist of eight (8) tables and sixteen (16) seats located flush against the façade of the
premises on East 6th Street, and
2) its hours of operation will be 12:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. all days

2 more sidewalk cafe choices for 2nd Avenue

Two Second Avenue restaurants added sidewalk cafes last week... starting with Lions Beer Store on Second Avenue and Sixth Street, which features lamps — and lamp shades! ...



... and San Marzano at Seventh Street...



... which includes a few tables positioned on the Seventh Street side...



These two join Brick Lane Curry House, which debuted its sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on June 15.

Photos by EVG contributor Steven

Brick Lane Curry House debuts sidewalk cafe

Sidewalk seating is now available here at 99 Second Avenue between Sixth Street and Fifth Street, per EVG correspondent Steven.

CB3 signed off on the sidewalk cafe in June 2015.

Poco goes before City Council Tuesday for sidewalk cafe approval

[EVG photo from last month]

Several EVG readers passed along word that reps from Poco were outside the restaurant on Avenue B and East Third Street this weekend collecting signatures in support of receiving a license for their sidewalk cafe.

Last month, CB3 voted to deny the renewal of a sidewalk cafe permit for Poco, who advertises having a "legendary boozy brunch."

Here's part of CB3's lengthy denial. (You can find the PDF of the minutes from the December meeting here.)

WHEREAS, this applicant was first heard by Community Board 3 in May of 2009 for a sidewalk café permit for twenty-two (22) tables and forty-four (44) seats and was denied because the applicant conceded at that time that it had already been operating a sidewalk café without a permit; and

WHEREAS, this applicant then obtained a sidewalk café permit for ten (10) tables and twenty (20) seats; and

WHEREAS, this applicant was then heard for an alteration to extend its liquor license to its sidewalk café in September of 2009 and withdrew its application before Community Board 3 to address ongoing complaints from residents of loud noise from people and music emanating from the business which was corroborated by the issuance of a police summons for unreasonable noise in August of 2009...

WHEREAS, this applicant was then heard for a renewal of its full on-premise liquor license in July of 2015 because Community Board 3 had received complaints from residents from April of 2014 through July of 2015, about the failure of the business to oversee the sidewalk, unruly drunk patrons from the business blocking the sidewalk, excessive noise from patrons and music emanating from the business, which has an open façade, as well as from its sidewalk café, all you can drink brunch specials, the sidewalk café operating past its permitted time of 10:00 P.M., the service of alcohol at the sidewalk café after its permitted closing time and the café taking up too much of the sidewalk; and

WHEREAS, in May of 2015, the Department of Consumer Affairs issued violations against this business for its sidewalk café exceeding its permitted footprint on the sidewalk and having ten (10) too many tables when it was permitted for ten (10) tables and twenty (20) seats with a closing time of 10:00 P.M. every day; and

WHEREAS, in July of 2015 the applicant conceded that she kept the sidewalk café open past her permitted closing time and was serving patrons food and drinks at the café after its permitted closing time and that she has unlimited drink specials served with meals at brunch but stated that she had addressed complaints about her sidewalk café and patrons on the sidewalk since first being calendared for a community board meeting in June of 2015...

... and later...

WHEREAS, Community Board 3 has received additional complaints, including from an area resident and community board member, that drunken patrons block and disrupt sidewalk use for area residents; and

WHEREAS, an area resident and public community board member has observed that this café regularly exceeds its permitted size by an additional ten (10) to fifteen (15) tables, as evidenced by the attached video recordings...

On Tuesday, Poco will appear before City Council (heres the agenda) to make their case for the sidewalk cafe. Ahead of that, they are collecting signatures...

We are more than a restaurant. We are more than bottomless brunch. We at Poco, are your friends and family and we need...

Posted by Poco Restaurant & Bar on Tuesday, January 5, 2016

There are 442 signatures at Change.org as of this evening... from around the country...



In the meantime, the flyer below was spotted in the hall of an adjacent residential building...



Poco opened in March 2009.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Big word alert: From the front lines of the Avenue B brunch war

Fonda debuts sidewalk cafe

An EVG reader noted that the new sidewalk cafe is now operational outside Fonda, the Mexican restaurant at 40 Avenue B near East Third Street. (The sidewalk section apparently officially opened this past Saturday.)

CB3 signed off on the cafe application during its August meeting.

And this is how the sidewalk seating looks with people…

The wonderful BRUNCH scene at our brand-new outdoor cafe at Fonda East Village! #brunch #nycbrunch #outdoorcafe #fonda #fondaeastvillage #eastvillage #fondanyc #bestbrunch

A photo posted by FONDA (@fondanyc) on Oct 10, 2015 at 1:58pm PDT

This interactive map lets you track the neighborhood's sidewalk cafes

In case you didn't see this news earlier today (DNAInfo, The Lo-Down and Crain's, among other outlets), the Department of Consumer Affairs has launched an interactive map that shows the locations of the city's 1,300-plus sidewalk cafes.

The map also shows pending applications, license status and health grades. Per Crain's: "The goal is to boost transparency and reduce confusion surrounding the licensing process, said Julie Menin, commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the licensing of sidewalk cafés."

In our Community Board 3 area (covering the East Village and Lower East Side), there are currently 97 sidewalk cafes, many of them not even on Second Avenue or East Third Street and Avenue B.

Check out the map here.

Hearth debuts its sidewalk cafe; Black Market too

It's finally a reality. Outdoor seating @hearthrestaurant #twoyearsinthemaking

A photo posted by Marco Canora (@marcocanora) on May 19, 2015 at 10:19am PDT

Hearth now has six tables (with two chairs each) set up for diners on First Avenue and East 12th Street... it's a scaled-back version of what was previously proposed last summer with 38 seats total.

Meanwhile, over on Avenue A at East Seventh Street, Black Market rolled out their sidewalk cafe this past weekend...

Empellón al Pastor wants to add sidewalk seating on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

[EVG photo from last October]

Empellón al Pastor, the third restaurant from Alex Stupak (Empellón Cocina, Empellón Taqueria), opened last October on Avenue A at St. Mark's Place.

There's now a online petition to drum up support for sidewalk seating for the bar-taqueria.

Per Change.org:

We are asking for your help with expanding our venue. We would love to offer you outdoor seating during the summer and need your support when presenting this idea to the Community Board. If you would like to see this expansion as much as we do, please sign ...

At last look, the petition, launched yesterday, has 23 signatures, including someone from Canyon Lake, Texas.

Community Board 3 approved the liquor license (a PDF of the minutes is here) for the address back in January 2014. According to one of the notarized stipulations for the approval, the applicants "will not commercially operate any outdoor areas."

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Chef Alex Stupak vying for former Sushi Lounge space on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

As the for rent signs turn on Avenue A

Here are a few scant details about chef Alex Stupak's new venture on St. Mark's Place

CB3 OKs liquor license for Alex Stupak's new restaurant on St. Mark's Place

More about Empellón al Pastor, opening this fall on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place

Empellón al Pastor is now open on Avenue A and St. Mark's Place (39 comments)

IHOP on East 14th Street now has a sidewalk cafe

Hmm, pancakes on East 14th Street in the middle of summer...

Thanks to EVG regular Pinch for the photo... the 12-seat cafe apparently made its debut yesterday.

Residents, Hearth to meet about proposed sidewalk cafe

Hearth, the well-regarded restaurant at 403 E. 12th St. at First Avenue, is applying for a sidewalk cafe during this month's CB3/SLA licensing meeting.

While residents feel as if Hearth is a quality restaurant and a good neighbor, there are concerns about the proposed 38-seat sidewalk cafe. (Residents are also sympathetic to the fact that Hearth's landlord recently hit the restaurant with a 65-percent rent hike.)

So residents and members of the North Avenue A Neighborhood Association are meeting with Hearth reps tomorrow night at 7 to discuss the plans. The meeting is in the office of the East Village Community Coalition, which is located just off the lobby in the Christodora House, 143 Avenue B.

Here's a diagram of the East 12th Street side of the restaurant that Hearth submitted.


[Click on image for a better view]

One Association member said there is already a lot of "pedestrian congestion" in the area around First Avenue and East 12th Street with especially high foot traffic from the L train stop at East 14th Street.

"And now with 160 new apartments scheduled to be built at the corner of East 12th Street and Avenue A, it seems the congestion will only increase," the member said.

Looking at The Fourth's sidewalk cafe

As you may recall back in April, several residents had concerns about the proposed sidewalk cafe at The Fourth, the ground-floor restaurant located in the Hyatt Union Square on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street.

The matter eventually went to City Council, who OK'd a smaller, 12-seat cafe.

Anyway, the cafe made its debut the previous weekend… not really much to look at. From either vantage point.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over a proposed sidewalk cafe for The Fourth on 4th Avenue (20 comments)

Maiden Lane debuts its sidewalk cafe

The folks at Maiden Lane, the 13-month-old cafe on Avenue B and East 10th Street, let us know that their sidewalk cafe opened on Tuesday ... with eight tables on the East 10th Street side facing Tompkins Square Park.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's what's coming to the former Life Cafe space

A look at 3 new East Village sidewalk cafes

Just noting three restaurants that have recently unveiled their new sidewalk cafes… (there are others — these just seemed more prominent) …

There's Alder at 157 Second Ave. …



The Brazen Fox at 106 Third Ave. (at East 13th Street) …



… and Boulton & Watt at 5 Avenue A (at East First/East Houston) …

City Council approves smaller sidewalk cafe for The Fourth on 4th Avenue

As previously reported, several nearby residents had concerns about a proposal for a sidewalk cafe with 13 tables and 26 chairs at The Fourth, the ground-floor restaurant located in the Hyatt Union Square.

Community Board 2 issued a denial for the cafe back on March 20, even after reps for The Fourth agreed to 12 tables and 24 seats. Residents wanted the number of tables here reduced to six (with 12 seats) to better fit the space on Fourth Avenue at East 13th Street.

Flashback to our post:

With this application, they are claiming that their diners will sit shoulder to shoulder while pinned against the wall to be in compliance. Even if diners were willing to sit that way (at a very expensive restaurant), would the restaurant then turn away anyone with above average or particularly large shoulders? Of course they would not and it would not even be legal to do so. Even in the best case scenario, it is clear that this cafe, as proposed, will not comply with city regulations. There is simply not enough room for 2 persons to sit side by side on this sidewalk and be in compliance with the law. What they have proposed is impossible.

City Council weighed in on this yesterday ... and the residents were able to get the smaller 12-seat cafe, per their wishes.

"I'm still skeptical as to how they might implement it to be greedy with space," said one resident, who noted that District 2 Councilmember Rosie Mendez was "a helpful mechanism to effect this change."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern over a proposed sidewalk cafe for The Fourth on 4th Avenue (20 comments)

Concern over a proposed sidewalk cafe for The Fourth on 4th Avenue

There is a proposal for a sidewalk cafe at The Fourth, the ground-floor restaurant located in the Hyatt Union Square on Fourth Avenue at East 13th Street.

Community Board 2 heard the proposal for the sidewalk cafe with 13 tables and 26 chairs on March 20. Board members had some concerns about the configuration and size of the tables … as did a few nearby residents.

Some concerned residents shared a letter with us that they also submitted to CB2 as well as Councilmember Rosie Mendez's office.

Said one EVG reader:

Their proposal is laughable and preposterous in many ways. It calls for tiny, tiny tables placed perfectly next to one another on the extremely un-level sidewalk there to feign compliance with city laws. The idea that they will actually ask anyone to spend top-shelf prices to dine in these conditions is absurd.

Now let's quote from this letter, which goes into great detail about the way diners sit. Not to mention shoulders:

They have proposed six sets of (2) 19" wide tables pushed up against the wall and pushed up against each other. If these tables could be placed perfectly against each other, they would take up exactly 3'2" of space. Add to that the required 3' for a service corridor and their plan would take up every fraction of an inch available to them (based on their already inaccurate measurements). In reality, it is unrealistic to think that they could ever keep these tables pushed together.

Anyone who has dined at a restaurant knows that when 2 separate parties of 2 persons sit at adjacent tables, the tables are pushed apart (usually about a foot). The way this plan is written, if they push the tables apart by even a quarter of an inch, they are no longer in compliance with city regulations. If they had any intention of keeping the tables together, there would be no reason to request permission for 2 separate tables side by side. They would have requested only one table. They clearly intend to file the plan one way and then place the tables in a very different way.

So far we have only touched upon the size of the tables themselves and their ability to fit within the plans but let's not forget that people will be sitting at these tables and make their claimed placement of the tables impossible. This plan implies that 2 people could be sitting next to each other at this cafe, dining and enjoying cocktails and take up 38" or less of space.

The average width of a human shoulder is between 18" and 19". Even if you had people willing to sit shoulder to shoulder, touching each other, with the inside party's shoulder pinned against the wall, every time you had 2 people with shoulders that were above average, they would expand into the required 3' service aisle and no longer be in compliance with city regulations.

With this application, they are claiming that their diners will sit shoulder to shoulder while pinned against the wall to be in compliance. Even if diners were willing to sit that way (at a very expensive restaurant), would the restaurant then turn away anyone with above average or particularly large shoulders? Of course they would not and it would not even be legal to do so. Even in the best case scenario, it is clear that this cafe, as proposed, will not comply with city regulations. There is simply not enough room for 2 persons to sit side by side on this sidewalk and be in compliance with the law. What they have proposed is impossible.

And here is the proposed cafe configuration…



Those against the proposed cafe as it is now are suggesting that The Fourth reduce the number of tables to six. For their part part, CB2 denied the license. (Read a PDF of the proceedings here.) We understand that the application will now go before City Council next Thursday.

Said the EVG reader: "The City Council could potentially force changes to the plan ... It should be an interesting lesson in local politics to see how it unfolds."

Forcella aiming for a sidewalk cafe on the Bowery

Over on the Bowery, Forcella — La Pizza di Napoli, which opened last fall, is seeking a sidewalk cafe... per the notice on the pizzeria's front window, the hearing on the matter is this Thursday afternoon...

...and here's the view outside the restaurant looking south...

...and north...

Linen Hall seeks sidewalk cafe

Over on Third Avenue near 13th Street, there are newish notices up that Linen Hall is seeking an unenclosed sidewalk cafe ...



Per the notice, there's a public meeting about the matter tomorrow at 2 p.m. downtown at 66 John St.

The owners of Penny Farthing also own this space, the former Cosmic Cantina, which had a small sidewalk cafe as well.

When this address went before the CB3/SLA committee in November 2010, Eater reported that "neighbors complained vehemently about the noise with one resident stating it made him 'miss the crack whores' ... they admitted that it wasn't so much Penny Farthing as the combination of all the restaurants on the block and no formal noise complaint was ever made against the bar."