NYC Is Tearing Down Hundreds of Outdoor Dining Sheds
It is targeting unused and dilapidated structures.
While dining sheds are still allowed on New York City streets, the city is making moves to get rid of old and unused ones.
Last Tuesday, city workers removed almost 100 outdoor dining structures from the streets of the Big Apple, CBS News reports. If a restaurant's dining shed is either unused or has a history of violations, it will be taken down.
The city has removed 169 of them in total, but it says that getting rid of them is the last resort. The first goal is to bring the outdoor dining sheds up to compliance.
In a tweet, the NYC Department of Sanitation urged citizens to help out with the clean up. "See a shed that needs to go?," it reads. "Call 311."
Outdoor dining structures originally emerged in NYC as a way for restaurants to survive during the earlier stages of the pandemic. After being warmly welcomed by New Yorkers and tourists alike, dining sheds have remained, with permits being extended multiple times.
While many residents love the new outdoor dining solution, a few are still fighting to get rid of them for good, citing garbage and pests as the main problems caused by the structures. At this time, the city is still finalizing rules to define the future of outdoor dining in the city.