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 with
a safe return to the table-side
service industry, and throw
a lifeline to boutique restaurants
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COURIER L 4 IFE, MAY 29 -JUNE 4, 2020
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
started similar moves
to give businesses more leeway
for al-fresco dining.
The idea even has life here
in New York, where landuse
regulations are typically
stringent 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 outdooe
Chez Oskar owner Charlotta Janssen is one of the many Brooklyn restaurateurs
pushing to legalize curbside food service. Google
seating would provide
an opportunity for cooped up
locals to safely get some fresh
air, while patronizing struggling
businesses and helping
restore the shattered 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.
DINING OUT
Restaurateurs push for outdoor
seating to keep business alive
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