Scot Bathgate, via Streetsblog, sends in the lastest thing to pop up in New York City:
With the city’s first “pop-up café,” the Department of Transportation is testing out a solution to … the lack of public space caused by cramped sidewalks.
The wooden platform of the café takes the place of a few parking spaces along Pearl Street, sitting on top of the roadbed. With 14 tables — the same red model now familiar from Times Square — and 50 chairs, the space will be able to absorb some of the neighborhood’s lunchtime rush. Sidewalk cafés are generally not allowed in the neighborhood because the sidewalks are too narrow.
Above: Nicole LaRusso of the Downtown Alliance, David Byrne, and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan enjoy coffee and mango lassis at Pearl Street’s new pop-up café. Photo: Noah Kazis
The name “pop-up café” is perhaps a bit misleading. No food is being sold in the space — it’s just public seating. …
Local businesses are excited about the pop-up café and aren’t worried about the handful of parking spaces that will be unavailable during the summer months it is in place. …
Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan predicted that it would be used by as many, and as many kinds, of people as the new public spaces her department has created across the city. “Every time we put down just an orange barrel, people just materialize out of nowhere,” she said. “If you build it, they will sit.”
A few thoughts: Kelowna beat New York. They’ve had these pop-ups on Barnard Street for a few years now, to much acclaim.
But it would be tougher to do in Vancouver, where we need the curb parking lane in rush hours to keep the trolleys moving.
And finally, note how business is embracing the idea – indeed, even paying for the pop-ups. It doesn’t cost NYC anything, save for the loss of some parking space revenue.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the downtown businesses complaining about the loss of parking for the cycle tracks understood the way the world is going – and realized how they can profit from it?
Halifax has done something similar in its restaurant district for years now – It would be great to see asimilar initiative in Vancouver.
Would be nice on Mainstreet and the Drive…or even near restaurants downtown where seating is limited inside.
It certainly would enhance Vancouver and put the city even more inline with many world class cities that have these sorts of spaces either in front of restaurants or cafes.
A very similar arrangement has been used in Little Italy here in New York for quite some time, although the spaces are not “public” in the truest sense (and not lauded by the city in the same way), but are associated with various restaurants. The slight elevation from the street, usually accompanied by some sort of railing, makes for a very pleasant dining experience.
I’m going to be in my beloved Vancouver next month, and look forward to sitting in (on?) one of the finest public spaces I’ve experienced in my life – the seawall along English Bay!