On Wednesday, the New York City Council convened to vote on matters of critical importance: organic waste collection, blockchain technology, the upcoming mayoral race and 18 red bistro chairs that dot the corner of Canal and Ludlow Streets.
Like hundreds of restaurateurs across the city, Jon Neidich, an owner of Le Dive, applied for a permit last year for sidewalk seating outside of his buzzy wine bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Under ordinary circumstances, his application would have been approved or rejected by the Department of Transportation, and never even considered by the City Council. Instead, Christopher Marte, a Council member who represents the area, brought it before the full Council for a vote — an unusual move given support from Le Dive’s community board.
The Council rejected it.
“Le Dive has demonstrated a continuous disregard for sidewalk cafe regulation,” Mr. Marte said during a committee meeting before the vote, “and at this time cannot be trusted to be a good steward of this program and must be held accountable.”
These kind of permits are being debated across the city. But there’s something about one quarter-mile stretch of Canal Street.
This expanse between Chinatown and the Lower East Side has become known as “Dimes Square,” a destination for hip, young New Yorkers. During the pandemic, fast and loose enforcement of sidewalk and street dining solidified Dimes Square as a subculture and a micro-neighborhood, even briefly appearing on Google Maps.
“That outdoor seating makes people feel like they’re in the center of the universe,” said Alex Hartman, 28, who satirizes downtown life on his Instagram account NoLIta Dirtbag. “It makes people feel alive.”
The party may soon be over. “It was totally outrageous,” said Susan Stetzer, the district manager of the local community board. She has been working closely with residents in the area to clean up Canal Street. “I don’t think that’s going to continue.”
Restaurants with sidewalk or street seating had to apply to the new outdoor dining program in August, in accordance with a 2023 bill that sought to make elements of pandemic-era outdoor dining permanent. Those permits are separate from the Open Streets program, which temporarily closes down select roadways and turns them over to restaurants, residents and bars during warmer months. Local groups will debate the terms of that program in the coming weeks as well.
Community boards do not have the ability to vote on applications outright — they issue recommendations to the Department of Transportation and the State Liquor Authority. But there are other means of influencing who is granted permits.
“We’re working the system,” said Ms. Stetzer, who has been vocal about outdoor dining regulation and lives about seven blocks north of Le Dive.
When Mr. Neidich applied for his sidewalk seating, for instance, Neighbors on Canal intervened. The citizens group, which formed last summer and has worked closely with Ms. Stetzer, has been sharing photos online of vomit and street parties around Dimes Square in the hopes that elected officials would act.
“Lack of oversight and enforcement have led to a ‘Bourbon Street’ like atmosphere,” its website reads, “leading to open air drug-dealing, open container drinking, amplified music, illegal BBQs and gatherings.”
The group approached Mr. Marte, the council member, to contest Le Dive’s sidewalk permit, citing noise complaints and the wine bar’s “outsized dining footprint.” It has roughly 100 seats on the sidewalk and street during peak season.
Mr. Neidich had called on the public to write to the City Council in an effort to save Le Dive’s sidewalk tables, appealing to those who “believe our outdoor space adds to the energy of the street” in the restaurant’s Instagram. More than 500 people did.
He also applied for a roadway dining permit. The application is with the Department of Transportation and has not been reviewed by the community board, he said. Mr. Neidich fears his sidewalk seating is the beginning of a larger dismantling of Dimes Square. “The end goal for them is to vastly reduce Open Streets and hours,” he said. “Ultimately, I think the end goal is to make it go away.”
Open Streets was established in 2020 as a financial lifeline for the city’s restaurants. Since then, two blocks of Canal Street close to traffic and are turned over to a group of restaurants, led by Nialls Fallon of the restaurant Cervo’s, from April to October. Chefs grill smash burgers on curbs and sidewalks become bustling dining rooms.
Behind the scenes, owners around Dimes Square were racking up complaints. Le Dive, which opened in 2022, has been the subject of dozens of 311 calls over the last two years; Time Again, a bar four blocks west of Le Dive, and Clandestino, a cocktail bar next door to Le Dive, have elicited noise complaints, too.
Mr. Fallon considers the program a success, adding that city guidance has become clearer over time. In response to community feedback, he has implemented several changes: He now employs “street ambassadors” to clean the roadway, and he has moved closing time from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m.
This year, he has proposed reducing Open Streets from seven days a week to four. “It’s a large-scale program that has never been done in New York City before,” he said. “There’s naturally going to be a learning curve.”
Restaurant owners were reluctant to comment on the permitting process, fearing it would jeopardize their applications. Jeffrey Simon, the owner of Clandestino, said businesses are being blamed for issues in the neighborhood that long predate roadway dining.
“I would watch bare-chested men fist-fighting at 1 o’clock in the afternoon before Open Streets ever existed,” he said. “It feels like all the problems in the neighborhood are getting pinned on us.”
Le Dive is the among first restaurants in Dimes Square to have an outdoor dining application considered by its community board. Others, like one put forth by Clandestino, could be considered soon.
Mr. Simon applied for a street permit that can accommodate 18 diners in an enclosed area. In exchange for community board support, he agreed to an outdoor dining curfew of 10 p.m. — two hours before the city curfew. (Le Dive did, too.)
“We’re playing ball with the community board,” he said. “We’re kind of in their hands.”
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