In Pictures: Are New York’s dining sheds here to stay?

|
Ann Hermes/Staff
Server Nahidur Rahman sets out candles under the pergola erected by the restaurant SAINT for outdoor dining in New York.
  • Quick Read
  • Deep Read ( 1 Min. )

The streets of New York have always been jampacked, but since the pandemic, they’ve also been full of outdoor dining sheds. During lockdown, these structures kept many restaurants in business. More than two years later, some have become eyesores while others have added color and life to the neighborhoods in which they operate. 

The city is working to make the sheds permanent and to implement regulations that address neighbors’ concerns about increased noise, sanitation problems, and lack of access.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

The dining shed quickly emerged as a pandemic lifeline for New York restaurants. What began as an emergency stopgap has since become a community fixture that the city wants to make permanent.

Michael Abruscato understands the issue. When SAINT, the restaurant he manages, took over its current location, a dilapidated dining shed stood in front. SAINT’s owners replaced it with a more secure and stylish structure, decorated to match the restaurant’s interior. 

Maintenance isn’t easy. Mr. Abruscato keeps a bucket of paint on hand to cover the inevitable graffiti. The restaurant manager plans to winterize the pergola and create a “winter wonderland” dining experience for the months ahead. 

“Living in the Northeast, you’re always kind of stuck inside,” Mr. Abruscato says. “So it’s beautiful to have [outdoor dining] now. ... It just changes the vibe.”

The streets of New York have always been jampacked, but since the pandemic, they’ve also been full of outdoor dining sheds.

During lockdown, these structures kept many restaurants in business. More than two years later, some have become eyesores while others have added color and life to the neighborhoods in which they operate. 

The sheds were allowed under the Open Restaurants program, which the city is working to make permanent. The mayor’s office says new regulations will address neighbors’ concerns about increased noise, sanitation problems, and lack of access.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

The dining shed quickly emerged as a pandemic lifeline for New York restaurants. What began as an emergency stopgap has since become a community fixture that the city wants to make permanent.

A group of residents from several boroughs filed a lawsuit to remove the sheds because they say the structures harbor pests and block parking spaces. 

Ann Hermes/Staff
Restaurant sheds are sandwiched between the streets and sidewalks. In some residential areas, neighbors complain about increased noise, pests, and garbage.

Michael Abruscato understands the issue. When SAINT, the restaurant he manages, took over its current location, a dilapidated dining shed stood in front. SAINT’s owners replaced it with a more secure and stylish structure, decorated to match the restaurant’s interior. 

Maintenance isn’t easy. Mr. Abruscato keeps a bucket of paint on hand to cover the inevitable graffiti. Despite challenges, the restaurant manager has plans to winterize the pergola and create an outdoor “winter wonderland” dining experience for the months ahead. 

“I lived in LA for 15 years, and I’m so used to outdoor dining,” Mr. Abruscato says. “Living in the Northeast, you’re always kind of stuck inside. So it’s beautiful to have it now. ... It just changes the vibe.”

Ann Hermes/Staff
Jesse Silbermann (left) and Dylan Silbermann relax after lunch at Casa Azul. The shed matches the decor of the restaurant’s interior.
Ann Hermes/Staff
Darius Isom (left) adds a sticker to an interactive display presented in part by the artist 0H10M1ke (right) in a restaurant shed converted into an art space.
Ann Hermes/Staff
Messages adorn the wall of the art space outside Cheese Grille.
You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to In Pictures: Are New York’s dining sheds here to stay?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2022/0923/In-Pictures-Are-New-York-s-dining-sheds-here-to-stay
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe