Community Board Nine Examines Cafe Codes

People-watching is as much of an activity in New York City as going to the movies is elsewhere in America.

"It's fun to just look at everyone interacting with each other on the sidewalks. I sometimes sit outside at Nussbaum and Wu just so I can have entertainment while I eat," said Shaina Greiff CC '04.

Sidewalk cafés, the extended portion of restaurants located on public sidewalks for customer use, have become common to many restaurants in Manhattan. They particularly attract customers looking for a relaxing meal that won't isolate them from the nice weather and entertaining scenes of New York.

But Community Board 9 has taken an initiative against many sidewalk cafés in Morningside Heights. In a letter to Dynasty, the Chinese restaurant on the northeast corner of 110th Street and Broadway, the board stated that the restaurant's plan to renew its outdoor café permit "must not be allowed."

The letter cited the Community Board's 1999 policy, created in response to the board's 12-year struggle to close the outdoor café, that expresses opposition to all enclosed outdoor cafes and any that project more than eight feet into the sidewalk, "impeding pedestrian flow."

Sidewalk cafés are required to have a permit approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), according to the official New York City government website. The Community Board does not have the power to deny or approve a permit, but it is required to hold a public hearing on all permits to allow for community response and give a written recommendation to the DOT and DCA based on resident opinions.

The Community Board wrote in its letter that it has taken a stance against Dynasty "after consultations with the local community and careful observations of the congestion, both vehicular and pedestrian, in the area," adding that the rejection of the permit "will respect the wishes of the community."

However, Community Board 9 Chairman George Goodwill said, "I don't have any specific knowledge of any particular person complaining or being upset, but it's an open forum."

Dynasty's Assistant Manager, Adeline Soon, said she has never received complaints from customers about their outdoor café.

Community Board 9 wrote that Dynasty's outdoor café is particularly "impeding" as it lies at an intersection known for heavy traffic flow and contains several stops for public transportation, including a bus stop directly in front of the café and three subway entrances.

"This heavy vehicle usage makes it of the utmost importance that the sightlines be clear and pedestrian flow unimpeded," wrote the board.

The café extends approximately five to six feet, depending on the location, further into the sidewalk than its neighbor, Burger King, leaving eight to nine feet of sidewalk for pedestrians. By comparison, across the street where there is also a bus stop, there is approximately 15 feet of sidewalk space.

Nacho Mama's, Nussbaum and Wu, Deluxe, and Le Monde are other neighborhood eateries that allow customers the option of eating outside.

Nussbaum and Wu, on the corner of 113th Street and Broadway, which often leaves its outdoor café open during colder months, is in a different situation than Dynasty.

According to Manager Dave Leviton, "the [sidewalk] outside the restaurant here is quite wide." Leviton also maintained that Nussbaum and Wu's outdoor café is within the parameters of New York City regulations.

The city website did not list any depth regulations for the cafés, but included a prohibition on serving alcoholic beverages in the cafés among the expressed laws.

Leviton also said he had "never received any complaints about the seats outdoors because [they] keep it very clean."

"The students especially like eating outside," said Leviton. "Even in the cold weather people are out there, probably because it's a more casual dining experience… Why are people complaining? The customers enjoy it."