East Village irked by graffi ti-covered, fi lthy dining spaces
BY DEAN MOSES
When the ravages of the COVID
19 pandemic crippled the
city’s restaurant and hospitality
industry, outdoor dining spaces nestled
on countless streets throughout the Big
Apple were designed to offer a lifeline to
struggling businesses while also providing
diners a safe space to eat.
But two years into the pandemic and
with indoor dining having returned, some
East Village residents say the outdoor
shelters in their neighborhood are far more
than just an eyesore.
A strip of outdoor dining sheds along
East 6th Street between First and Second
Avenue appear, at fi rst glance to be abandoned
and out of use due to their graffi tismeared
exterior, broken and cracked
wood framing, and piles of garbage stacked
inside during daylight hours, yet longtime
locals say when the light fades, they are
put back to use.
“I would burn them if I could,” Franco
Caligiuri told amNewYork Metro. “We
have rats all over the streets, we have noise
that is really sometimes unbearable, and
they are disgusting.”
Caligiuri has lived in his East 6th Street
apartment for decades and affi rms things
have never been this bad. He cites loud
music and parties from the dining areas
which keep him awake at night.
“It’s bad every night in the nice
Mounting trash is also an issue.
weather. It’s bad every night and then the
weekends—you got to leave. If you live in
the front, you leave. They make our lives
miserable. You can’t walk down the f**king
sidewalk. You know, and I got people
screaming in my windows every night,”
Caligiuri said, furiously.
Caligiuri attributes the noise complaints
and piled trash to student residents who
Some structures appear to be falling down.
come to study for a few months before
returning home.
“This neighborhood was once full of
cultural artists and very bohemian, that
was the East Village. Now it’s a student
ghetto,” Caligiuri charged.
But not everyone feels the same way.
According to some younger residents,
the scrawled street art and worn frames
gives the area character and supplements
the artistic vibes long associated with the
neighborhood.
Nostalgic for a bygone period in New
York City’s history, frequent visitors like
Nicole S. feel that the graffi ti is a work of
beauty.
“I like it, I mean that is New York,” Nicole
S. said, surveying the outdoor dining
space.
Alex Nicholson, who traveled from Peru
to the East Village to visit his sister, also
agrees with these sentiments.
“It makes it feel cozy. Yeah, I think I
like it. It’s different to what I see so it’s
refreshing, you know,” Nicholson said.
Another resident who lives directly
above some of the disheveled sheds said
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
that the appearance isn’t half of the issue.
Penna, a senior local, believes the structures
should be torn down.
“They should be sent to the garbage. Salvage
what you can for some other project,
but these things bring rats. The rats come
out when it starts getting dark and running
all over the place. They multiply,” Penna
explained, “And we get a lot of college kids
coming through here and they party hardy,
late, late, late.”
During amNewYork Metro’s investigation
several store owners declined to comment
or were closed.
Garbage fills were many later eat.
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