{"id":33890,"date":"2020-07-24T22:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T19:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/outdoor-seating-impossible-for-some-eateries-thanks-to-wild-nyc-streets\/"},"modified":"2020-07-24T22:27:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T19:27:00","slug":"outdoor-seating-impossible-for-some-eateries-thanks-to-wild-nyc-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/outdoor-seating-impossible-for-some-eateries-thanks-to-wild-nyc-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"#Outdoor seating impossible for some eateries thanks to wild NYC streets"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Outdoor seating impossible for some eateries thanks to wild NYC streets<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Mayor Bill de Blasio has been touting his restaurant reopening program as a \u201chuge hit\u201d \u2014 but that\u2019s not the case on a Queens street overrun with druggies, drunks and vagrants thanks to the city\u2019s surging lawlessness.<\/p>\n

Fahiyan Ahmed, who operates the family-owned LIC Grill in Long Island City, told The Post he eagerly embraced the city\u2019s post-pandemic rules allowing dining tables on sidewalks and streets, only to have his dream of economic recovery shattered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the first day, I set up two tables outside for a test run. We got two customers that sat down, but then they came in said, \u2018We\u2019ve got to take the food to go,\u2019 \u201d said Ahmed, 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was crack smoke blowing in their face, marijuana smoke, K2 smoke. There were people coming up to them asking for money. There were drug dealers yelling at their runners. There were gang signs being thrown left and right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even worse, Ahmed said, \u201cTwo homeless guys sat down at one of our tables.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them the seating was just for customers, but they didn\u2019t want to move,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo finally, my manager and I had to force them off and brought the tables back inside. We never took them out again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nurul<\/img>
Nurul Ahmed, father of LIC Grill owner Fahiyan Ahmed, worries that his business won\u2019t survive the COVID restrictions or the growing homeless population.<\/span>Gabriella Bass<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rocky Garcia, who manages a Subway sandwich shop two doors away, had a similar tale of woe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had planned to do outdoor seating, but it\u2019s impossible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you put out chairs and tables, it\u2019s not for the customers, it\u2019s for these people. It just makes more problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia, 40, added: \u201cThe people that live in this area, they don\u2019t want to come get food here. They\u2019re scared. If they come, then a homeless person follows them in asking for money, asking for a sandwich. Who wants to deal with that?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n \"072320_LIC_Grill8GSB.JPG\"<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n People standing outside LIC Grill <\/p>\n

Gabriella Bass\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"072320_LIC_Grill11GSB.JPG\"<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n A homeless man outside the restaurant <\/p>\n

Gabriella Bass\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"072320_LIC_Grill1GSB.JPG\"<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n A New York City Department of Homeless Services Police vehicle <\/p>\n

Gabriella Bass\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Up Next\n <\/p>\n
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Three federal agents who were sent to Portland, Ore., to…
\n <\/article>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

During a virtual news<\/a> conference from City Hall on Thursday, de Blasio began his remarks by declaring, \u201cGreat things are happ<\/a>ening like our Open Restaurants initiative, the outdoor dining, it\u2019s been a huge hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, de Blasio focused on plans for stepped-up enforcement of coronavirus-related regulations this weekend outside restaurants that have been so successful that they\u2019ve led to mobs of people clogging streets in Astoria and the East Village.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe absolutely are planning to have a lot of people out \u2014 the civilian folks doing education, the face coverings, a lot from the Sheriff\u2019s Office, [police] as needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, de Blasio boasted that \u201cover 9,000\u201d eateries were taking part in the program, which he recently said would be extended through Oct. 31.<\/p>\n

But on the block of 21st Street in Long Island City that\u2019s home to LIC Grill and the Subway store, the idea of eating at one of its outdoor spaces would have turned anyone\u2019s stomach early Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Two dozen men were gathered on the sidewalk, many shuffling around with their eyes glazed over and their heads hanging down, or peering intently into the store windows.<\/p>\n

One man in a hoodie appeared to be smoking K2 and drinking beer from a can in a paper bag, while another sat with a hand stuck down his pants.<\/p>\n

Ahmed said he and his parents plowed their lives\u2019 savings into opening their business, which specializes in Indian and American cuisine, in 2018 after immigrating from Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

The place used to have regular patrons, but the coronavirus crisis led to a 50 percent drop in sales \u2014 and things only got worse when the local hotels \u201cturned into shelters\u201d for homeless people, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment they came here, you saw the drug dealers setting up shop on the street,\u201d Ahmed said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin two days, you saw people passed out, drinking malt liquor all day, on the ground spilling it, fights starting. It\u2019s been horrible ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, receipts are down 80 percent, \u201cwe\u2019re behind on our rent,\u201d and nearly the entire staff has been laid off, he said.<\/p>\n

Ahmed\u2019s father \u2014 Nurul Ahmed, 62, who works as a waiter at the Sheraton hotel in Times Square \u2014 said, \u201cWith this situation, I don\u2019t see how we can stay open for more than a few months more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wanted to go out and eat with my family and saw this situation, I wouldn\u2019t eat here,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n

The younger Ahmed said he\u2019s repeatedly sought help from the hotel operators and the NYPD, but his pleas have been in vain.<\/p>\n

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\n \"072320_LIC_Grill7GSB.JPG\"<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n Inside LIC Grill’s kitchen <\/p>\n

Gabriella Bass\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"072320_LIC_Grill3GSB.JPG\"<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n Outside the popular Queens eatery <\/p>\n

Gabriella Bass\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n \"NYC<\/img><\/p>\n
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\n NYC sheriff’s officers target Steinway Street in Astoria amid dense crowds at night. <\/p>\n

Paul Martinka\n <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Up Next\n <\/p>\n
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\n Three federal agents who were sent to Portland, Ore., to…
\n <\/article>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI spoke to the hotels housing the homeless nearby. I spoke to the directors, everybody. They said there\u2019s nothing that can be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NYPD has enough on their hands. They tell me, \u2018We can tell them to move, but that\u2019s the best we can do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A customer, Somon Zaki, 32, said he liked the food at LIC Grill but felt \u201cuncomfortable\u201d having to routinely run a gauntlet of filthy beggars to pick up takeout orders there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re waiting by the door, saying, \u2018Give me 75 cents, give me a dollar.\u2019 Maybe we\u2019d give them money, but they don\u2019t ask nicely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re rude, they\u2019re drunk a lot of the time, they\u2019re not clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zaki added: \u201cOutdoor seating would be out of the question. There is a pandemic situation, and eating with all these people around would not be safe. I\u2019ll eat at home or in my car, but not here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agustin De La Puente, 48, who has an antiques warehouse next door to LIC Grill, said he was forced to install a wrought-iron gate around the entrance to keep vagrants off the steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all these people sitting here, throwing garbage, smoking pot, selling drugs. I have to fight every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve called the police so many times, I\u2019m tired of calling the police already. They do nothing. When they come, the guys just move across the street, and when the police leave, they come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

De La Puenta also said the problem was caused in part because the Best Western Plus Hotel next door won\u2019t let the homeless people who stay there loiter out front, leading them to drift down the block.<\/p>\n

A manager at the Best Western declined to comment and referred The Post to city officials, who didn\u2019t respond to an inquiry.<\/p>\n

The NYPD said it had only one record of a call from LIC Grill this month, regarding an unconscious person on the sidewalk at 11 a.m. July 14, and also noted that the department no longer handles homeless outreach, due to a $1 billion cut to its operating budget.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy<\/em>\n <\/div>\n

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If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Outdoor seating impossible for some eateries thanks to wild NYC streets” Mayor Bill de Blasio has been touting his restaurant reopening program as a \u201chuge hit\u201d \u2014 but that\u2019s not the case on a Queens street overrun with druggies, drunks and vagrants thanks to the city\u2019s surging lawlessness. Fahiyan Ahmed, who operates the family-owned LIC…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43807],"class_list":["post-33890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-outdoor-seating-impossible-for-some-eateries-thanks-to-wild-nyc-streets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}