Bare dining sheds drawing homeless
These dining disasters are turning into hovels for the homeless, giant garbage dumps and traffic-blocking storage sheds.
Outdoor dining structures that were once meant to pump life into the struggling restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic are now standing abandoned after the eateries have shuttered, or refocused on indoor dining.
Three forsaken al fresco setups sat until recently on just a single previously busy block of LaGuardia Place in Greenwich Village.
One graffiti-covered outdoor hut belonged to Bosie, a restaurant shuttered since August. It was removed only late last month.
Next door at Le Souk, another wooden structure stood empty.
And the third abandoned setup provided outdoor space for the former GMT Tavern, which closed after a damaging fire on April 19.
“These sheds are an eyesore — people are now depositing garbage in them. Why are they up months after restaurants have shut down?” someone griped in a July complaint to the Department of Buildings, which said no violation was warranted.
Leif Arntzen said he sees the homeless sleeping in the dining sheds on his Cornelia Street block “all the time” after restaurants close for the evening or on days they are not open.
The covered shed outside the Uncle Chop Chop restaurant, which is a step up from plain plywood, is a popular one, he said.
“I think they pick it because they’ve got this sort of AstroTurf on the pavement,” said Arntzen, who is part of the CUEUP alliance which opposes making the “open restaurants” program permanent.
Down the block, a passerby captured a photo of one man stretched out in the plain plywood shed outside Palma restaurant.
Residents complained last spring about an unused shed outside Ajisen Ramen on Mott Street becoming sleeping quarters for the homeless. Then the restaurant put up doors and began using it for storage, according to a local observer.
Restaurants are not allowed to use these huts as storage, according to the Department of Transportation.
Nearly 12,000 outdoor setups dot city streets, including 1,202 located in the roadway; 4,295 on the sidewalk; and 6,047 that
are a combination of both sidewalk and street, according to DOT stats.