6 Harlem Restaurants Move Into New Outdoor Dining 'Pavilion'

HARLEM, NY — A half-dozen Harlem restaurants are hoping to survive the winter thanks in part to an expansive new outdoor dining structure that was unveiled Monday along a stretch of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.

The "Renaissance Pavilion at Strivers' Row" will include seating for six independent, Black-owned restaurants: Ruby's Vintage, Sexy Taco, The Row, Alibi Lounge, Ma Smith's Dessert Café and Harlem Chocolate Factory. All are located near the pavilion, which stretches from 137th to 139th streets.

The heated structures have 50 percent ventilation, as is required by the city's outdoor dining rules. Every structure is also paired with artwork by one of six commissioned artists, each of whom also worked on this summer's Harlem Black Lives Matter mural.

A total of 32 businesses worked together to build the pavilion, from restaurants to architects to public relations firms. Of those, 27 are Black-owned, according to organizers.

The pavilion was built by Uber Eats along with Harlem Park to Park, Nikoa Evans, Valerie Wilson, Brandt:Haferd architects and WXY architecture + urban design. It will be in place through April 2021.

"Working with Uber Eats on this program has provided an opportunity to create a model for how businesses can work through this unique period in time," Claire Weisz, founding principal of WXY, said in a statement.

Many New York restaurant owners doubt that outdoor dining will be enough to last them through the winter. In September, a state audit found that more than half of New York's restaurants — as many as 12,000 — could close within months if they did not get help through city and state funding or a federal bailout.