NYC Chef, Family On Food Stamps After City Demolishes Dining Shed

NEW YORK CITY — A New York City chef contends his family is on food stamps because the city wrongfully demolished his restaurant's elaborate outdoor dining shed.

Wesley Wobles and his wife Mimi Blitz spent last week packing up the remnants of Pinky's Space, their East Village art gallery and restaurant into which they poured all their passion and finances.

Fortunes changed for the once-hopping spot on East First Street and First Avenue after city workers tore down a $90,000 outdoor dining shed without warning in October, the couple maintained in a high-profile lawsuit against the city.

They've since ridden a downward spiral into debt, eviction and, now, food stamps, Wobles said.

"We’re just trying to live day by day," he told Patch Friday.

"I’m going to the church today to pick up food, I’ve got a hungry 8-year-old."

A city law department representative didn't return Patch's request for comment.

When Pinky's Space opened in 2017, Wobles said it the culmination of decades of working as a chef in the city.

Together, he and Blitz molded it into what they called a "food-art space" where French Southern fine dining comfort cuisine and art installations were bathed in a neon glow.

As the coronavirus pandemic struck, they took advantage of the city's open restaurants program and built an outdoor dining structure.

The shed was nothing less than an extension of Pinky's indoor vibe taken outdoors: a disco ball, neon lights, plants and works of art all filled the structure, according to court filings.

Eventually, 90 percent of the establishment's business came from the shed, the court filings assert.

Wobles said the shed space became so popular that they had to slow down events inside it.

"We had a great scene going on," he said.

But the scene ended Oct. 27 when crews with the city's Department of Transportation showed up and demolished the shed.

City transportation officials have since said the business received several warnings.

But Wobles and Blitz have maintained — in numerous media interviews and a subsequent lawsuit — that the city demolished the shed without warning. Their lawsuit asserts they only received two cease-and-desist orders, for which they had fixed the issues.

The couple was never told the shed was a threat of imminent harm that required complete destruction, according to the lawsuit.

“The end result was it destroyed our business,” Wobles said. “We attempted to reopen immediately, we were able to reopen the outdoor garden. But we didn’t have enough money to pay our revolving bills.”

The lawsuit seeks $615,000 in damages, of which Wobles is hopeful they'll receive in a settlement.

Such a settlement will help them recoup their losses and sign a new lease in either Alphabet City or Brooklyn, Wobles said.

But the legal process has gone slowly, and misfortunes keep stacking up.

Beyond the eviction and going onto food stamps, Wobles said their car got towed as they were packing Pinky's equipment, gear and various odds and ends into storage. And there are so many debts to deal with that dealing with them is a full-time job, he said.

"I’d be forever in debt if I just went back to working as a chef in a restaurant," he said.

"We’re hoping the city is going to settle soon and do right by what they did wrong."