NYC restaurants break down outdoor dining structures

Restaurant owners across New York on Tuesday prepared for a snowstorm that’s expected to present the biggest challenge to the dining spaces they’ve set up in parking spaces in sidewalks.

All outdoor dining will be suspended starting 2 p.m. Wednesday, just as the storm is expected to begin dumping up to a foot of snow on the five boroughs.

Restaurant owners will not be required have to remove dining tents, shacks and other outdoor structures from streets, as city officials said smaller, more nimble plows should allow crews to clear snow around them.

But some restaurateurs on Tuesday weren’t taking any chances.

Laura Montalvo, co-owner of the Columbian restaurant La Masa in the Bronx’s Morris Park neighborhood, said she was taking down a sprawling outdoor dining area that helped the eatery stay afloat during the pandemic.

“We’re pulling it apart,” Montalvo sighed. “We don’t want any problems, because everyone has different regulations. Less headache we gotta worry about.”

Eddie Travers, who owns the historic Fraunces Tavern and The Lovelace in the Financial District, said his outdoor eating area was too large to disassemble. Instead, his staff used sandbags to keep it safe from the plows.

“They said we have to consolidate our outdoor space, but we can’t (because) it’s an outdoor structure,” said Travers. “Obviously, we won’t be too happy about it come 2 o’clock tomorrow because we will be closed. Thursday won’t be much better.”

City restaurants have struggled in the pandemic. From midMarch to late June, restaurants were limited to takeout service. Since late June, restaurants have been allowed to serve outdoors. Many eateries serve customers on streets and sidewalks in elaborate tents and open-air structures with electric lights and heat lamps.

The first big snowstorm of the year is forecast to arrive Wednesday afternoon. Restaurants were ordered Monday to stop the limited indoor service they’ve been allowed since late September. Gov. Cuomo said ending indoor dining is necessary to stem a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Cesar Jiminez, 35, who works at Table 87 pizzeria in Brooklyn Heights, worked Tuesday on disassembling the restaurant’s outdoor dining structure.

“It’s going to be tough for everybody — especially right now when we have the snow, and it gets more cold outside,” said Jiminez. “It’s going to be a little bit crazy for everybody.”

“Some of them [the restaurants] aren’t going to make it.”

Danna Anderson, 49, who works at Jamaican Flavor in St. Albans, Queens said the business was working to reopen quickly after the storm because the restaurant doesn’t deliver and relies on in-person business.

“We’ve been here for three years. The pandemic has made business bad,” said Anderson. “We will stay open tomorrow. I have my salt here. I’m not worried.”