| We’ve all learned by now there are colonies of rats living below that shuttered dining shed covered with chipped plexiglass and fake ivy. The plywood floor is sagging in a suspicious way. And most noticeably of all, it smells. The city has introduced stricter rules that aim to clear all this streetery blight, and, predictably, many have suggested they spell the end of outdoor dining — after all, only a fraction of the city’s restaurants applied for the new permits. But architecture critic Justin Davidson doesn’t see doom. We may not have learned all the right lessons from the urban transformations forged in the pandemic (see: the death of congestion pricing), but he suggests the new streetery rules are exactly what we need to usher in a better outdoor-dining experience. This is not to say it will be a smooth transition; if anything, we can be confident that, as with most public-space improvements, there will be shouting and bureaucratic red tape and angry neighbors. But slowly, eventually, he sees us all getting a little more breathing room. |
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