Opponents Spar At NY City Planning Hearing On Restaurant Sheds

NEW YORK —It took just short of nine hours and 45 minutes for commission members to virtually listen to every advocate and opponent of New York's Open Restaurants Program on YouTube Wednesday.

Most of what they heard revolved around two distinctly different views of the program, which lent a lifeline to the city's failing restaurants during the pandemic in allowing them to expand to outdoor makeshift cafes-under-cover, which many refer to as "sheds."

Now the city is weighing whether to make the program — and its accompanying structures — permanent.

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On the one side, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs alike expressed gratitude, and said that without the program, they would not have survived the shutdown or the anemic response of hesitant patrons to dine away from home. They spoke with pride about how creative and clean their temporary dining spots were. They testified that allowing trash to accumulate or making clutter that might trip patrons or passersby is antithetical to a business predicated on hospitality, best health practices and appealing visuals.

On the other, opponents decried the sheds as a nuisance, a catch-all for attracting rats and the homeless. For them, the sheds are trash-catching eyesores that have made it all but impossible for residents who live within earshot to escape the din of diners and the drinking partiers who inevitably replace them as the night wears on.

For the most part, the commission members sat politely and listened. Often, there were questions at the end of a speaker's remarks to clarify a point. And at no time did any reveal which way they might be leaning on the issue.

Perhaps that's because both sides seemed to be scoring points politically. A City Council study last August found that the program consumed 8,550 parking spots at that point and had also preserved 100,000 jobs.

At the same time, their survey of 418 downtown Manhattan restaurants determined that some 93 percent of eateries were not in compliance with one or more Department of Transportation guidelines that regulate the sheds. Violations included obstructing traffic by extending too far into the street, hampering the flow of foot traffic and making fire hydrants dangerously less accessible.

Now close to 12,000 sheds line the city's streets. Of those, some 1,202 are located in the roadway and 4,295 are on the sidewalk, while 6,047 utilize a combination of sidewalk and street, according to the DOT.

The department has also determined that a shed is only abandoned if its restaurant is closed permanently. At last count, the Sanitation Department has only been directed to remove 21 of them across the city.

While opponents of making the program permanent hail from across the strata of New York society, proponents have lined up powerful allies, including Mayor Bill di Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who said, "The Open Restaurants Program is a lifeline for many businesses. We should build on its success. In the meantime, DOT and its partner agencies should enforce the existing rules and make sure abandoned structures are addressed quickly."

The speaker's office also points out that the program remains a work in progress, and that refined design rules "will standardize structures and alleviate community concerns around safety and accessibility. The citywide public process for these changes is getting underway now."

Hence a nine-hour and 45 minute meeting in which each of the participants understood that the final outcome could change the face of New York City forever.

Not many called the initial idea misbegotten, although several wondered why restaurants were singled out to benefit from additional space when a card shop or antique dealer wouldn't be eligible.

Cheri Leon, a spokesperson for the Coalition United for Equitable Urban Planning (CUEUP) said that even though her organization remains steadfastly against making sheds a permanent fixture of the city's streetscape, the plan made sense in reviving the restaurant industry.

"And," she added, 'as long as we have these conditions, we're in support of having the sheds in place. Unfortunately, they've become an entitlement, where an empty shed on the street is now amenity and it's being marketed that way, too. We're seeing more and more that as the conditions continue."

Leon believes she's taking the long view: "Before the pandemic," she told Patch, "city planners were envisioning a more friendly cityscape with widening sidewalks and more room for pedestrians. But making the sheds permanent makes those things exponentially more difficult, because you can't do that when you have tables and chairs in the way. All of that planning goes away."

A spokesperson for the Department of City Planning said Thursday that with their recommendations and feedback gathered, they will forward the responses to the City Council and the Community Board, where each will have a 30-day review period.

"And then," he concluded, "it should all be back here in two months for a final determination."