by 
I
had
the
privilege
of
seeing
the
gorgeous
photography
show Out
on
the
Street:
The
Dining
Sheds
&
Empty
Streets
of
New
York,
2020-2024,
in
the
Chelsea
neighborhood
of
Manhattan.
The
show
showcased
the
work
of
Dutch
photographer
Wijnanda
Deroo,
who
wandered
New
York
City
for
four
years,
taking
close
to
400
vibrant
photographs
of
dining
sheds
built
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic.
The
sheds
were
ubiquitous
across
the
city;
they
were
unique
and
often
reflected
both
the
culture
of
the
restaurants
and
the
communities
in
which
they
were
embedded.
Some
structures
were
“simple
lean-tos
banged
together
out
of
a
few
hundred
dollars’
worth
of
lumber
to
small,
lovingly
detailed
odes
to
verdigris
Beaux-Arts
winter
gardens,
sleek
Streamline
Moderne
luncheonettes
and
sunset-pink
Old
Havana
arcades.”
The
dining
sheds
are
only
a
memory
as
the
city
mandated
their
demolition
and
removal
by
the
end
of
2024
for
a
host
of
reasons,
including
noise,
safety,
and
issues
with
mobility.
While
it
appears
that
New
York
has
an
expensive
and
limited
plan
to
allow
for
fairly
uncreative,
sterile
outdoor
sheds
to
return
for
specific
periods
of
time
once
again,
it
is unlikely
many
sheds
will
re-appear
due
to
the
proposed
regulations
and
costs.
The
sheds
were
not
loved
by
many;
as
the New
York
Times notes,
“to
some
urbanists,
they
were
a
bold
experiment in
rethinking
public
space.
To
others,
they
were
an
eyesore.
Restaurateurs
saw
them
as
an
economic
lifeline.
Opponents
saw
a
land
grab.”
However,
their
impact
was
significant.
They were “structures
that
so
completely
changed
the
appearance
of
our
city
for
four
brief
years.”
With
the
pandemic
behind
us, Deroo’s
photographs
are
a
reminder
of
what
is
common
in
other
cities
around
the
world
but
absent
in
New
York—life
lived
on
the
street
in
the
company
of
others.
Instead
of
making
outdoor
dining
a
challenge,
the
city
should
incentivize
ways
to
make
the
streets
of
New
York
more
friendly
to
pedestrians.
The
appetite
is
there.
Congestion
pricing
took
effect
earlier
this
year,
and
there
are
plans
to
help Fifth
Avenue become
more
like
Paris’s Champs-Elyséss.
When
Americans
travel
abroad
to
popular
environs
in
Europe,
many
feel
a
connection
to
their
surroundings
because
the
people
in
cafes,
bars,
and
restaurants
pour
outside
onto
the
sidewalks
throughout
the
day.
Throughout
Europe,
visitors
will
find
people
are
still
outside
and
enjoying
the
company
of
others
even
in
the
cold
and
rain;
this
is
so
entrenched
in
French
culture
that
you
will
see
Parisians
in
heavy
coats
and
hats
sitting
outside
just
to
watch
and
be
with
others.
The
excitement
and
the
energy
of
being
around
others
is
tangible,
and
seeing
part
of
life
lived
in
public
and
on
the
sidewalk
is
something
many,
if
not
most,
Americans
will
never
regularly
experience.
Café
culture
in
Europe
is
a
choice;
so
is
how
we
as
Americans
opt
to
interact
in
the
public
sphere.
We
need
to
think
more
seriously
about
our
spatial
choices
and
decide
if
our
preferences
reflect
what
we
want
as
a
society.
We shape
our
cities
and
then
our
cities
shape
us
through how
we
build
and
zone
which
in
turn
helps
structure
how
we
engage
with
others
be
it
through
texting
and
apps
remotely
or
in
person,
in
a
café
surrounded
by
others.
Roughly
four
years
ago,
my
family
and
I
returned
to
Manhattan
in
the
winter
of
2021,
having
left
during
the
pandemic.
Upon
our
return,
sheds
and
outdoor
spaces
of
congregation
were
everywhere.
Our
stretch
of
First
Avenue
in
midtown
east
was
incredible;
despite
the
frigid
temperatures
and
some
tough
days,
the
stretch
of
blocks
from
the
upper
40s
through
the
50s
was
alive
and
exciting.
People
were
distanced
but
socializing
throughout
the
day,
taking
advantage
of
the
spaces
to
gather,
socialize,
and
simply
be
in
the
public
sphere.
Today,
the
temperatures
are
as
cold,
but
First
Avenue
is
nothing
like
what
it
was;
the
same
area
is
desolate,
uninviting,
and
empty.
The
sheds
and
spaces
to
gather
are
long
gone,
and
the
residential
area
of
midtown
east
toward
the
river
feels
like
a
shell
of
its
former
pandemic
self.
If
New
York
City
wants
to
improve
safety,
fight
rising
trends
of
loneliness
and
isolation,
create
spaces
of
shared
interest,
spark
and
foster
connections,
and
help
bring
life
back
to
neighborhoods
that
lost
businesses
during
the
pandemic
shutdowns,
the
city
should
incentivize
social
and
connective
spaces
like
the
restaurant
sheds
and
public
gathering
spaces
created
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic.
They
have
their
flaws,
but
the
sheds
can
dynamically
transform
streets
and
communities
and
provide
spaces
that
foster
a
fundamental
human
need:
connection
with
others.
New
York
should
help
provide
businesses
with
the
incentives
to
rebuild
sheds
and
other
gathering
spaces;
by
doing
this,
the
city
will
help
businesses
thrive
and
promote
social
capital
and
architectural
creativity
along
the
way.
This
piece
first
appeared
at
AEI.
Samuel
J.
Abrams
is
a
professor
of
politics
at
Sarah
Lawrence
College
and
a
nonresident
senior
fellow
at
the
American
Enterprise
Institute.
Photo:
2021
outdoor
dining
sheds,
9th
Ave.
NYC
–
by
Brecht
Bug,
via
Flickr
underCC
2.0
License.
Go to Source
Author: Samuel J Abrams
