New Curbside Seating Module Comes to the Flatiron District

The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership, Brooklyn-based design firm FANTÁSTICA, and internationally renowned photography museum Fotografiska New York are piloting an innovative curbside seating module called Fast Casual as part of the NYC Department of Transportation’s citywide Open Restaurants program, creating more outdoor seating where people can meet, eat, and relax in the Flatiron District. The module, from FANTÁSTICA’s new “Fast Casual” series of public seating, was installed in late October in front of Fotografiska New York, located at 281 Park Avenue South.

The Flatiron Fast Casual module is a product of the Flatiron Partnership’s vision for public realm improvements that facilitate social distancing, enhance the pedestrian experience, and support local businesses and cultural institutions, coupled with FANTÁSTICA’s new designs that thoughtfully respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new unit is especially useful for Fotografiska New York patrons. With museums currently limited to 25% capacity, the seating provides a comfortable space for Fotografiska guests waiting to enter the museum and after viewing three floors of world-class photography.

“We are excited to bring this innovative public seating amenity to the Flatiron District in partnership with FANTÁSTICA,” said James Mettham, Executive Director of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership. “The new unit provides space where residents and visitors—including patrons of Fotografiska New York—can safely and comfortably meet, eat, or relax. This innovative pilot demonstrates our commitment to public realm projects that enhance the pedestrian experience and support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”

“We have a real opportunity to rethink public space and how it can be made better. With Fast Casual, we have designed flexible outdoor seating and dining modules that are safe, customizable, scalable, cost-effective, and durable. As our city continues to adapt, we can show with this pilot that creating flexible outdoor seating isn’t just for restaurants – it’s an approach that can be used by cultural institutions across the city to remain important destinations for the community and for all New Yorkers,” said J. Manuel Mansylla, Founding Principal, FANTÁSTICA.

“We are thrilled to participate in the pilot of Fast Casual along with Flatiron Partnership and FANTÁSTICA and to welcome back our neighbors, co-workers, and local tourists returning to the Flatiron District,” said Pam Harris, Executive Director, Fotografiska New York. “At Fotografiska New York we aim to be a welcoming museum for all and a safe haven of innovation, inclusivity, and self-expression. Now with public street seating right outside the museum, we can bring this experience outdoors and provide a place for people to meet, get inspired, and relax.”

FANTÁSTICA created the Fast Casual line of modular furniture toolkits in response to the rise of outdoor dining and remote work, seeking to help expand the footprints of restaurants, small businesses, and office spaces. The firm developed the line over the last six months as a safe and cost-effective solution for public spaces. Fast Casual is:

• Modular and customizable: Components come in a standard 6-foot-length that provide automatic visual cues to reinforce safe social distancing and can be combined in various configurations to accommodate different types of spaces and uses.

• Easy to deploy: As experienced public space designers and managers, FANTÁSTICA understands the complexities of urban environments. The toolkits anticipate the evolution of the regulatory environment in regard to structural guidelines and utilize well-known street infrastructure and traffic safety components to provide utmost structural integrity, while making them easy and cost-effective to deploy.

• Design-forward and functional: The toolkits are conceived with functionality in mind, but not without thought to form. The designs marry aesthetics with utmost durability that can be customized to reflect a variety of aesthetics and help promote locations through lighting, colors, materiality, and signage.

The Fast Casual unit is the Flatiron Partnership’s latest public realm initiative aimed at supporting safe, enjoyable pedestrian activity along with business recovery. Additionally, the Partnership has managed Open Streets in the Flatiron District since the City announced the initiative in May and has worked with NYC DOT and neighborhood food and beverage establishments in facilitating outdoor dining on sidewalks, curbside lanes, and roadbeds through the City’s Open Restaurants and Open Streets: Restaurants programs.

The Partnership is also enlivening the district experience through public art, recently collaborating with Contemporary and Digital Art Fair (CADAF) on augmented reality art—via QR codes—in and around the Flatiron Public Plazas through CADAF’s Digital Art Month program. And, later this fall, the Partnership, with the Van Alen Institute and NYC DOT Public Art, will unveil a thought-provoking design installation by Nina Cooke John on the Public Plazas. Called Point of Action, the installation will be on display from November 23 through the New Year.