Streetnotes

New York City’s streetscapes have undergone a dramatic transformation as a result of the city’s Open Restaurants program. Established in June of 2020 to uplift the restaurant industry out of economic turmoil brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the program led to outdoor dining structures sprouting across the urban landscape. Due to its overall success, the city is currently preparing to launch a permanent program, which has led to conflicts between some of the city’s stakeholders as the space used for outdoor dining overlaps with public spaces such as sidewalks and streets. Drawing from urban planning and environmental psychology students’ research projects, this paper explores the ways in which outdoor dining has transformed public space in New York City using Lefebvre’s spatial theory as a guide. Over the course of a semester, students analyzed city blocks in the Bronx and Manhattan using multiple methods including historical analysis of block changes and field observations. Analysis of 45 open restaurants across 15 city blocks suggests the following: the increase in outdoor dining structures is widespread; there is high variability in outdoor dining structural design and aesthetics regardless of neighborhood median income; and impacts on mobility and accessibility warrant further research. In discussing these findings we consider the ways in which outdoor dining space is socially produced through conceived, perceived, and lived space to better understand the current state of affairs and reveal the dialectic of urban life. Lefebvre’s spatial triad is a useful tool for socio-spatial analysis on this scale; its relational structure affords the opportunity to consider conflicts as generative moments that can lead to a reimagining of public space that is more equitable, accessible, and participatory.