Car-hater Ben Furnas has been appointed to Mamdani’s transition team for transportation, climate and infrastructure – and his agenda is a nightmare for the city’s drivers.
That New York Post article is a hate-filled piece of garbage.
For example, it hates against these “polarizing rat-riddled street dining shacks” (quote is from the article).
I can guarantee you, i live in Vienna, we have these things all over the place. There’s at least 5 of them on my way from where i live to university. There’s never been any problems with them. In fact, they’re delicious and typically much cheaper than sit-in restaurants. That’s probably because they don’t have to pay for expensive rooms. That makes the food much cheaper, it’s typically around 5€ for a kebab (basically a sandwich) compared to 12€ for anything you get at a sit-in restaurant. I have gone to these street dining shacks every day for years and never had problems.
Is that picture real? It looks like it should be a KenM post, talking about the very normal-looking restaurant shack instead of the prominent pile of un-binned garbage.
Nah, these are part of whatever restaurant is across the sidewalk. That does sound nice, but hasn’t been my experience with them. I haven’t eaten at all of them though, that’s for sure.
It would be better to give the businesses and landlords some certainty and allow them to be built as a permanent structure. Add better trash holding infrastructure while they are at it.
None of those were freestanding food places, they were simply an outside dining area for places that already had inside dining areas that nobody wanted to uses during Covid. Those little seating booths were necessary during Covid, when nobody wanted to be trapped in sealed rooms with other strangers, but their usefulness has passed, and we are left with the problems.
For one thing, they took away parking spaces, which are already extremely scarce. Secondly, because they are slightly raised, they made for a perfectly safe little living space for vermin under the floorboards. Thirdly, none of them were built with any kind of permits or regulations, and they were getting run down and poorly maintained, and that was only going to get worse. Finally, they’re only useable for only about half the year anyway.
They were kind of neat during Covid, when everyone was trying anything they could to keep their businesses operating, and the government was willing to look the other way for a change, but those times have passed, and these things have become more trouble than they’re worth any more.
For one thing, they took away parking spaces, which are already extremely scarce.
Parking spaces should be scarce in NYC.
Secondly, because they are slightly raised, they made for a perfectly safe little living space for vermin under the floorboards
Lol, are you seriously trying to blame NYC’s rat problem on these? The problem has more to do with the large piles of garbage sitting on the street.
Thirdly, none of them were built with any kind of permits or regulations
Ooooh noooo, an unpermitted shed, noooo 😭
Land in a city should be put to its highest and best use. Are these little seating areas the highest and best use? Maybe, maybe not. But the highest and best use definitely isn’t parked cars.
That New York Post article is a hate-filled piece of garbage.
For example, it hates against these “polarizing rat-riddled street dining shacks” (quote is from the article).
I can guarantee you, i live in Vienna, we have these things all over the place. There’s at least 5 of them on my way from where i live to university. There’s never been any problems with them. In fact, they’re delicious and typically much cheaper than sit-in restaurants. That’s probably because they don’t have to pay for expensive rooms. That makes the food much cheaper, it’s typically around 5€ for a kebab (basically a sandwich) compared to 12€ for anything you get at a sit-in restaurant. I have gone to these street dining shacks every day for years and never had problems.
Is that picture real? It looks like it should be a KenM post, talking about the very normal-looking restaurant shack instead of the prominent pile of un-binned garbage.
Nah, these are part of whatever restaurant is across the sidewalk. That does sound nice, but hasn’t been my experience with them. I haven’t eaten at all of them though, that’s for sure.
It would be better to give the businesses and landlords some certainty and allow them to be built as a permanent structure. Add better trash holding infrastructure while they are at it.
I would take these over franchises any day!
None of those were freestanding food places, they were simply an outside dining area for places that already had inside dining areas that nobody wanted to uses during Covid. Those little seating booths were necessary during Covid, when nobody wanted to be trapped in sealed rooms with other strangers, but their usefulness has passed, and we are left with the problems.
For one thing, they took away parking spaces, which are already extremely scarce. Secondly, because they are slightly raised, they made for a perfectly safe little living space for vermin under the floorboards. Thirdly, none of them were built with any kind of permits or regulations, and they were getting run down and poorly maintained, and that was only going to get worse. Finally, they’re only useable for only about half the year anyway.
They were kind of neat during Covid, when everyone was trying anything they could to keep their businesses operating, and the government was willing to look the other way for a change, but those times have passed, and these things have become more trouble than they’re worth any more.
Sounds like they could use some iteration to reach their final form
Parking spaces should be scarce in NYC.
Lol, are you seriously trying to blame NYC’s rat problem on these? The problem has more to do with the large piles of garbage sitting on the street.
Ooooh noooo, an unpermitted shed, noooo 😭
Land in a city should be put to its highest and best use. Are these little seating areas the highest and best use? Maybe, maybe not. But the highest and best use definitely isn’t parked cars.