outdoor dining

Long Live the Streetery

One new form, 18 distinctive variations.

Chelsea Market, Meatpacking District. Photo: Google Maps
Chelsea Market, Meatpacking District. Photo: Google Maps

Despite ongoing complaints and concerted efforts to dismantle them, the city’s streeteries are staying put. In this week’s issue of New York, Simon van Zuylen-Wood tracks the epic rise and nonexistent fall of plywood dining — an unlikely artifact of early-pandemic life and a repurposing of public land that is now set to change our cityscape forever.

As van Zuylen-Wood reports, the erection of thousands of dining sheds created new business opportunities (just ask the city’s new go-to “propane guy”) and transformed our sidewalks into ad hoc dining rooms, a menagerie of wildly different ideas brought to life by purposely lax regulations. In some ways, these structures are glorious examples of ingenuity in the face of impossible adversity; in other, equally visible ways, they are kind of gross. They are also, in one form or another, here to stay.

The Very Trippy Caterpillar

The Pavilion at NeueHouse, Flatiron District


This private club says its “exoKnit pavilion” has a “digitally woven photo-luminescent canopy.” 

The Crypt

Goldbar, Little Italy


Completely windowless yet not officially indoors.

The No-Parking Zone

Toloache (now Kuxé) and the Malt House, Greenwich Village


Slows traffic to a crawl, improving your meal.

The Work of Art

Branded Saloon, Prospect Heights


Is it more Gerrit Rietveld or Amy Sillman? Discuss.

The Improvisation

Tomi Jazz, Midtown East


If it’s not raining, small combos are playing.

The Double-decker

The Izakaya NYC, East Village


Stopped by the city mid-construction.

The Shire

Vicolina, Upper East Side


A mossy fantasia distracts from the concrete.

The Minimalist’s Ideal

Fresh & Co, Greenwich Village


Easy to take down if the neighbors gripe.

The Streetery-Dumpstery

Jongro BBQ, Koreatown


If it’s well ventilated, won’t diners smell trash?

The Cyclist Clobberer

Scarpetta, Nomad


Those doors open right into the bike lane.

The Flight Risk

Panna II, East Village


It got blown over at least three times.

The Burmese-Temple Riff

Rangoon, Crown Heights


Bright, pleasant, gorgeous at night.

The Space Helmet

Suprema Provisions, West Village


Fun for a goof once; ridiculous thereafter.

The Leave-Me-Alone

Jolene, Noho


It’s not just private. It’s opaque.

The Construction Zone

Terremoto Coffee, Chelsea


Water- or sand-filled barriers can top 1,500 pounds and maybe divert a car.

The Art Deco Ocean Liner

Quality Meats, Midtown


There’s a proper bar in there. 

The Mediterranean Villa

Il Buco, Noho


Nicely blurs the line between shed and patio.

The Balochistani House

The Chai Spot, Little Italy


Maybe the only dining shed in which you can lie down (legally).

Photographs by AFP via Getty Images, @CORONASHAXX/Jacob Reidel, John Tymkiw, Alamy Stock Photo, @bicycult/Twitter, Jeremiah Miss, Christian Larsen, Getty Images, Google Maps, Quality Meats
The Very Trippy Caterpillar

The Pavilion at NeueHouse, Flatiron District


This private club says its “exoKnit pavilion” has a “digitally woven photo-luminescent canopy.” 

The Crypt

Goldbar, Little Italy


Completely windowless yet not officially indoors.

The No-Parking Zone

Toloache (now Kuxé) and the Malt House, Greenwich Village


Slows traffic to a crawl, improving your meal.

The Work of Art

Branded Saloon, Prospect Heights


Is it more Gerrit Rietveld or Amy Sillman? Discuss.

The Improvisation

Tomi Jazz, Midtown East


If it’s not raining, small combos are playing.

The Double-decker

The Izakaya NYC, East Village


Stopped by the city mid-construction.

The Shire

Vicolina, Upper East Side


A mossy fantasia distracts from the concrete.

The Minimalist’s Ideal

Fresh & Co, Greenwich Village


Easy to take down if the neighbors gripe.

The Streetery-Dumpstery

Jongro BBQ, Koreatown


If it’s well ventilated, won’t diners smell trash?

The Cyclist Clobberer

Scarpetta, Nomad


Those doors open right into the bike lane.

The Flight Risk

Panna II, East Village


It got blown over at least three times.

The Burmese-Temple Riff

Rangoon, Crown Heights


Bright, pleasant, gorgeous at night.

The Space Helmet

Suprema Provisions, West Village


Fun for a goof once; ridiculous thereafter.

The Leave-Me-Alone

Jolene, Noho


It’s not just private. It’s opaque.

The Construction Zone

Terremoto Coffee, Chelsea


Water- or sand-filled barriers can top 1,500 pounds and maybe divert a car.

The Art Deco Ocean Liner

Quality Meats, Midtown


There’s a proper bar in there. 

The Mediterranean Villa

Il Buco, Noho


Nicely blurs the line between shed and patio.

The Balochistani House

The Chai Spot, Little Italy


Maybe the only dining shed in which you can lie down (legally).

Photographs by AFP via Getty Images, @CORONASHAXX/Jacob Reidel, John Tymkiw, Alamy Stock Photo, @bicycult/Twitter, Jeremiah Miss, Christian Larsen, Getty Images, Google Maps, Quality Meats

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images (street); John Tymkiw (Goldbar, NeueHouse, il Buco); @coronashaxx/Jacob Reidel (Vicolina, Tomi Jazz, Branded Saloon, Jongro BBQ, The Chai Spot); John Tymkiw (Izakaya NYC, Jolene); Jeremiah Moss (Panna II); @bicycult (Scarpetta); Richard B. Levine/Alamy (Chairs); Google Maps (Terremoto); Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images (Bubbles); Christian Larsen (Rangoon); Courtesy of Quality Meats (Bar); Stephanie Goto (Daniel)

A Streetery Menagerie