West Village Wants More Space While Welcoming Back Outdoor Dining

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — If there was ever a symbol for New Yorkers' eagerness to rebound from coronavirus lockdown, it's one bartender's reaction to once-familiar visitors in the West Village.

"We're slowly getting busier and busier — I even saw some tourists the other day!" Jacob Salas from the Corner Bistro said Friday with a laugh.

The West 4th Street pub is one of hundreds of New York City restaurants preparing, at long last, to welcome customers back next week as the city enters Phase II of reopening from a months-long lockdown to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

The second phase — which also includes hair salons, in-store retail and other businesses — will let the city's struggling restaurant industry open for outdoor dining, including a new plan to make it easier to use sidewalks or curbside parking lanes for tables.

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For restaurants like Corner Bistro, the go-ahead from Mayor Bill de Blasio is the first time the restaurant has opened its doors in three months.

The pub closed even for takeout and delivery shortly after the lockdown order when some of its employees became sick, Salas said. They began offering takeout again last week as they returned to get the eatery ready to welcome customers in again.

"We decided to open [last week] to get things in order and everything in place," he said. "I’m seeing people I haven’t seen in three months — it’s exciting"

The Bistro is among many restaurants in New York City that previously didn't offer outdoor dining, but plans to set up a sidewalk cafe during Phase II. It was recently approved for a sidewalk cafe with about five or six tables, Salas said.

The return to outdoor dining was also welcome news for restaurants that had stayed open for takeout and delivery throughout the shutdown.

Extra Virgin Restaurant, also on West 4th Street, said its takeout and delivery offerings not only helped the business stay afloat during the stay-at-home order, but brought in new customers that they hope will translate to more in-person diners.

"People have gotten to know us as a bit of a beacon of light for the neighborhood," manager Daud Sturdivant told Patch. "We’re excited to get people back to enjoy us the way they used to."

Extra Virgin and Corner Bistro are also among restaurants who are hoping the mayor will help them do more outdoor seating, though.

Both employees said the restaurants can benefit from expanding their tables out onto the street, which could happen if de Blasio answers calls to make West 4th Street part of his Open Streets program.

"For Phase 3, they're only saying 50 percent [capacity] for inside seating — most restaurants can't survive on even 75 percent," Sturdivant said. "If we can have the same amount of tables outside we could have inside, that would be great for us."

For restaurants not on Open Streets — which have been closed to most cars to help with social distancing — the mayor's current outdoor dining plan only lets restaurants apply to put tables onto sidewalks and parking lanes.

Open Streets can set up tables in the streets on nights and weekends starting in July, the mayor has said.

Extra Virgin and other nearby restaurants have been campaigning to make West 4th Street one of those blocks for weeks. A petition, including architect renderings of how the street could look, has gained close to 2,500 signatures.

Salas said Corner Bistro hasn't been directly part of the campaign, but that he supports the idea.

"It would create a whole different atmosphere in the city — it would be European," he said. "I know some streets have been closed to traffic and it has really improved business."