Scooby Scoop: Dining sparring, supermarket saving, garden celebrating

RIGHT BACK ATCHA: Mayor Eric Adams, upon recently signing the Permanent Open Restaurants bill, crowed that outdoor dining is here “forever.” He proudly touted NYC initiative as “the nation’s largest outdoor dining program.” Local opponents, though — who think it’s the world’s biggest, loudest, sloppiest, most-sidewalk-narrowing, etc., etc. (add your own outraged complaint here) headache — hope otherwise. Leslie Clark, spokesperson for CUEUP (Coalition United for Equitable Urban Policy), said they have collected affidavits from a group of especially besieged residents and assured they will be filing suit soon. Outdoor dining foes were also galled by the mayor proclaiming that he held “a public hearing” on the issue right before signing the measure — so ironic, they noted, since they have been tirelessly demanding a follow-up hearing to the City Council public hearing held back in February 2022 — back before the final bill was even drafted. However, a mayoral spokesperson responded, “This was a public hearing, not a press conference. The mayor is required to hold a public hearing on any bill before he signs it. This was noticed [a notice was sent out] in advance as required, it was live-streamed (there happened to be reporters in the room) and two gentlemen signed up to testify.” Meanwhile, under the bill for the citywide program, restaurateurs are being given a one-year “grace period” before having to remove their roadway shacks. Upon hearing they won’t have to relocate until late 2024, rats heaved a collective sigh of relief.

SAVE OUR SUPERMARKET! Attention, Morton Willams shoppers — the protest is back on! It’s now slated for Wed., Sept. 27, outside the supermarket, at Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place — time to be determined, as of press time. The rally had been planned for June 8 but was delayed due to the Canadian haze. The clock is fast winding down for the School Construction Authority and Department of Education to decide by year’s end whether to build a school at the site. Local politicians have jumped on the co-location bandwagon, lobbying the city to construct a building with both uses — a school and a market. Previously, the city said, if it built, it would only be a school. But fired-up supermarket advocates — more than 8,500 locals have signed a petition to save the store — cry co-location would mean no store for three years during construction. Former Councilmember Alan Gerson and the Save Our Supermarket (S.O.S.) group say the onus is on New York University to find space for the school — like in Soho or Noho, where N.Y.U. owns property, or on its Washington Square Village superblock north of the market. When the southern superblock was rezoned more than 10 years ago, N.Y.U. pledged to provide space in its then-planned Mercer Street building, which recently reopened as the new Paulson Center — yet without any space in it for a school. Check thevillagesun.com for the time of the action.

SWEET JANE: The volunteer-run Jane Street Garden has been enjoying a stellar summer, open seven days a week. On Sept. 30, the green oasis, at Jane Street and Eighth Avenue, will hold a cocktail party for its season-end fundraiser. A delicious roster of local businesses are chipping in, including Arthur & Sons, Art Bar, Barachou, Bonsignour, Cafe Cluny, Corner Bistro, Cursive, Manley’s, The Old Yew Plant Shop, Saved and Tavern on Jane. Party attendees can even win door prizes from Ann Tremet Cakes, Aux Merveilleux de Fred Bakery and Gelateria Gentile. The decades-old garden once even sported its own windmill — housing a homeless poet. To learn more and for tickets ($25 and up), visit janestreetgarden.org.