Pols hope to set boundaries with Open Restaurants program
BY MARK HALLUM
The Department of City Planning
approved a text amendment that
will establish a system for registering
Open Restaurants on Oct. 4, and by
Wednesday morning Lower Manhattan
offi cials were laying out their opposition.
Elected offi cials led by Assemblywoman
Deborah Glick and leaders of community
boards want stricter limitations on Open
Restaurants which speakers claim make
neighborhoods less livable in the abating
pandemic, especially as sections of Lower
Manhattan have seen the highest number
of applications for the program.
“This is a permanent solution to a temporary
problem, for only one industry – albeit
a very powerful one – and it’s going to
create permanent quality of life problems in
our dense residential neighborhoods,” said
Jeannine Kiely, chair of Manhattan Community
Board 2. “There’s no geographic
prohibitions and that will create huge quality
of life problems… It will also allow open
windows and facades for non-conforming
industries in residential areas. This creates
noise and makes it impossible for people
to sleep and live their lives above bars and
restaurants.”
The zoning text amendment will remove
restrictions to where a sidewalk cafe can be
located after the health emergency is declared
over. The Department of Consumer
and Workforce Protection (DCWP) will
also be removed from overseeing the program
which will require legislative change
in City Council.
“Open Restaurants helped save thousands
of small businesses from shuttering,
it’s credited with saving 100,000 industry
jobs, and providing New Yorkers the opportunity
to safely socialize while dining
alfresco over a great meal during the
COVID-19 crisis,” said Andrew Rigie,
executive director of the NYC Hospitality
Alliance. “Now as the city transitions
from the temporary, emergency outdoor
dining program to permanent roadway
seating, we commend and look forward
to working with the Department of City
Planning, Department of Transportation,
and community stakeholders in a
thoughtful public engagement process to
develop the permanent Open Restaurants
program that’s standardized, sustainable
and transformative for our city’s
streetscape, neighborhoods, economy and
dining culture.”
Siting rules, a fee structure and an application
review process for an entirely new
roadway dining program will need to be
developed as well by a task force, according
to the DCP.
“Getting design right is among the most
important elements of our coming Open
Restaurants program – for our health and
safety, and for our enjoyment of New York
City’s public realm. To get it right, we need
input from the public – you. So please, get
City Council candidate Christopher Marte, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and
Assemblyman Harvey Epstein announce their opposition to the city’s plan to
make Open Restaurants permanent through a zoning text amendment on Oct. 6.
involved and let’s make the Open Restaurants
program even better,” DCP Director
Anita Laremont said in a statement on
Monday.
On Oct. 6, demonstrators claimed that
although the DCP and the city Department
of Transportation have virtual and inperson
roundtables planned, there should
never have been a motion within city planning
in the fi rst place without seeking input
from community leaders.
“Mixed-use neighborhoods where people
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
live directly above these venues, they have
been over-burdened with crowded sidewalks,
excessive refuse, an explosion in
rats, an inability to get deliveries easily or
even take a cab close to home,” Glick said.
Before the text amendment can be fully
implemented, it has to be passed through
City Council which underwent a hearing
with the City Planning Commission. A set
of rules must also be laid out by agencies
through the City Administrative Procedure
Act, or CAPA.
Activists appalled after George Floyd statue in Union Square vandalized
Using ladders, cloth and paint, a desperate attempt is made to remove the
hate-fueled act.
BY DEAN MOSES
Two days after the statues of three
prominent Black figures were
unveiled on Union Square, some
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
miscreant marred the golden visage depicting
George Floyd with white paint.
Although the George Floyd bust on
display at Union Square is but one of three
art pieces in the public exhibit SeeInjustice
developed by Confront Art, the portrayal
of Floyd is the only recipient of a brash
daytime vandal on Oct. 3.
Members of Confront Art and Floyd’s
brother Terence rushed to the East Village
greenspace on Sunday after an unknown
defi ler launched a bucket of paint at the
statue on Sunday afternoon, leaving it
defaced by a trail of white.
“I want to understand for real: Why do
people hate my brother? Why do you hate
George Floyd?” Terrence Floyd asked, becoming
emotional after seeing the likeness
of his loved one dripping with paint. Floyd
was at a loss for words and just continued
questioning: “Why do you hate a person
you don’t even know?”
This is not the fi rst time the very same
statue was defaced. While on display in
Flatbush, Brooklyn, it was vandalized for
the fi rst time on June 25 by what was reported
to be a group of white supremacists.
Lindsay Eshelman, the Confront Art
Co-founder, was enjoying her Sunday afternoon
when she was notifi ed via Twitter that
the statue of George Floyd was vandalized
on Union Square.
It took six months to develop the art
project SeeInjustice, so when she saw the
image of George Floyd, a man who sparked
a worldwide call of Black Lives Matter
protests, she was deeply hurt.
“It was still wet when I got here, so it
was very fresh. It was remarkable that
someone had done it in broad daylight,
which is shocking, but the fact that it was
vandalized is not shocking,”
Eshelman said. Eshelman says that
Union Square is well-surveillance by the
NYPD and is counting on them to identify
those who committed the crime.
“They think it was a quick hit and run.
It was a signifi cant amount of paint, as you
can see. It is going to take us all day to get
it off. They don’t think it was organized
and it was kind of a rogue hit,” Eshelman
added.
With the help of volunteers, the paint
was removed. Yet with only two days on
display, many in Confront Art are asking
how long before it will happen again.
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