In an act of dining out as civil disobedience, an East Village cafe took back a parking spot on Friday, setting up tables for outdoor dining in defiance of City rules.
Outdoor dining supporters with the livable streets advocacy group Open Plans staged the "guerrilla" streetery at C&B Cafe to protest the City's current ban on curbside seating, which continues until the beginning of April even as the weather gets warmer.
A portable fence and a couple of planters turned a parking spot into a makeshift cafe, if only for a few hours, drawing a steady stream of customers the entire time it was up.
"Outdoor dining means a lot to my restaurant," said Ali Sahin, the owner of the cafe, which is located across the street from Tompkins Square Park. "Obviously, it allows us to generate more income. And I also think outdoor dining is great for the city. It changes the energy. The atmosphere changes."