SHED THOSE SHEDS! Street-dining suit

A group of Big Apple residents has filed suit against the city to try to prevent outdoor street dining expanded during the pandemic from becoming permanent — arguing that the alfresco setups are quality-of-life flops.

“Prior to its application to make the temporary open restaurants program permanent, [the city Department of Transportation] received thousands of complaints from residents related to noise, vermin, garbage accumulation, crowded sidewalks impeding residents access — all quality-of-life issues consisting a significant impact upon the environment,” says the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed Monday.

“Despite plain evidence of those adverse effects, the DOT still issued a negative declaration, foreclosing the need for more intense study of both the projected effects, alternatives and mitigation measures,” the filing claims.

At issue is a June 18 finding by the DOT saying that if the expanded outdoor dining went into effect permanently, it would not have a negative environmental effect on residents, court papers allege.

This finding allows the city to bypass a normal public-review process to fully assess the impacts that the measure would have and also allows the city to get around rezoning laws, according to the lawsuit.

The DOT recommendation now goes to the City Council, which will decide whether to accept it and make the outdoor areas permanent, with Mayor de Blasio’s approval.

The lawsuit comes as the DOT said the agency and the Department of Sanitation have removed 24 street establishments since July 2020.

Of the 24 removals, eight were because of noncompliance. The rest were found to be abandoned or already destroyed, the DOT said. Violations had included blocking a fire hydrant, blocking a bus stop and blocking a bus lane.

As for the lawsuit, it was filed by 23 residents from Manhattan and Brooklyn and is asking a judge to overturn the DOT’s recommendation.

One plaintiff, Kathryn Arntzen, who has lived with her husband on leafy Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village for 32 years, said their block now has seven restaurants with outdoor dining sheds.

Arntzen claims in court papers that music and televisions are blasted from the setups, garbage is always piled up outside the eateries and the “rat population has grown immensely.”

A spokesman with the city Law Department said, “The city’s environmental review was thorough, complete and found no adverse impact.