BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Ever since coronavirus-related
restrictions forced restaurateur
Charlotta Janssen
to limit operations to takeout
and delivery at her French
bistro Chez Oskar in Bedford-
Stuyvesant, business has been
tough to maintain.
Like so many other eateries,
customers have become
scarcer as Brooklynites shelter
indoors, and many fi nd themselves
newly strapped for cash.
Recently, though, Janssen
has joined the growing chorus
of those pushing an increasingly
popular initiative that
could provide locals a safe return
to the table-side service
industry, and throw a lifeline
to boutique restaurants like
hers: transforming streets and
sidewalks into outdoor dining
areas.
“What upsets me about the
narrative is that it’s ‘businesses
or lives,’” Janssen said. “But we
think it can be ‘business and
lives’ if it’s done in a safe way.”
Her eatery at Malcolm X
Boulevard near Decatur Street
typically relies on the revenue
from the busy summer months
to make it through the quieter
winter stretch, said Janssen,
who worried her business will
collapse if she can’t start serving
more customers again.
“If we don’t get the summer,
we won’t survive the winter,”
she said.
Other cities around the
country and beyond have already
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started similar moves to
give businesses more leeway
for al-fresco dining.
The idea even has life here
in New York, where land-use
regulations are typically stringent
Charlotta Janssen (center), the owner of Chez Oskar on Malcom X Boulevard, along with chef Octavio Simancas
(left) and general manager Angelique Calmet (right). Photo by Kevin Duggan
and slow to change, as
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he
was “intrigued” by the idea.
Department of Transportation
Commissioner Polly Trottenberg
told the Council that the
city is examining it, according
to Gothamist.
“It’s a very appealing idea,”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said during
an appearance on NY1 on
May 18. “I’m very intrigued —
the idea of using outdoor space
more, we have to fi nd out the
formula to do it safely.”
One cafe owner said this
would provide an opportunity
for cooped up locals to safely get
some fresh air, while patronizing
struggling businesses and
helping restore the economy.
“Once you’re eating outside,
people have a sense of
fresh air and they don’t feel
clustered in and fear of their
neighbor next to them,” said
Jesus Caicedo, the owner of
Skål, a Danish-inspired cafe
on Lewis Avenue.
The coffee shop at Macon
Street already has some outdoor
seating fronting the building,
but having more space on the
sidewalk and parking spaces
would allow Caicedo to move
all his customers outside, while
keeping the indoors for his staff
to work at a safe distance.
“Keep the inside for employees
and avoid contact and interaction,
I think that would be
safer for all involved,” he said.
Let ’em out!
Local restaurateurs push
to allow outdoor seating to
keep business alive
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