Dining shed
A dining shed is a makeshift
History
Starting in May 2020, with indoor dining banned, then-
Oversight over the program was assigned to the Department of Transportation, which set up "purposely lax" regulations and a self-certification system in the hopes that it would be as easy as possible for restaurants to use. In the program's first 24 hours, 1,950 restaurants self-certified, with the DOT being intentionally lenient with violations. Despite 93% of dining sheds breaking at least one rule, only 67 ever received fines. However, sheds set up in bus lanes, bike lanes, no-standing zones, or ones that took up more than the width of the restaurant's frontage were still torn down.[1]
Despite their purpose to prevent the spread of COVID, a lack of knowledge about the virus's transmission resulted in ineffective safety measures, such as spraying the air with sanitizing solution in the hopes of killing the virus. Costs varied wildly, from $15,000 to $200,000, depending on construction quality. Most were built from wood, which, in addition to the
In 2022, despite the sheds still creating increased business for restaurants, the dining scene began to be known as a "
Controversy
The sheds were criticized as attracting crime. In 2021, a star sommelier for Food & Wine magazine, Caleb Ganzer, was charged with setting multiple sheds on fire.[5] On August 6, 2022, the New York Post ran an exposé accusing the sheds of being hotbeds of public sex and urging mayor Eric Adams to tear them down. Adams announced a task force soon after to demolish noncompliant sheds.[1] Despite this, the demolition was "largely performative" due to its limited scope.[3]
Sheds also became habitats for rats, with a particular heated shed at Dr. Clark being described as "rat condos" and "irresistible to vermin".[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e van Zuylen-Wood, Simon (October 24, 2022). "Plywood Gourmet". Curbed. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Garber, Nick (February 28, 2023). "Outdoor dining may become seasonal as new legislation takes shape". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
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