BY THE VILLAGE SUN | It doesn’t look like La Bonbonniere is exactly kosher nowadays.
No, not because the Village restaurant, at Eighth Avenue and 12th Street, is flouting any religious dietary laws — but because of the sidewalk-spanning metal roof stretching to its roadway dining shed.
Not only that, but a tree and a bus-schedule pole both poke up through the quirky Quonset hut-like structure.
In 1943, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” was a hit novel about a young girl striving to make it.
In 2022, “A Tree Grows in La Bonbonniere,” well…describes what comes as a side with your pancakes at this favorite Village spot.
Not supposed to have the sheds coving over the sidewalks. If you get caught they make you take them down. Many don’t fit construction standards and could be flimsy.
This article was quirky but definitely not humorous. These sheds that are consuming the public spaces of our neighborhoods are flouting the rules and many are eyesores, not to mention the danger they pose to emergency vehicles. This wholesale giveaway of public space to restaurants is devestating our communities. What about the other small businesses that are having difficulties due to the pandemic? It is these small businesses that are important to the context of our neighborhoods. When the pandemic emergency has ceased to exist, these sheds must go. There is no reason to make them permanent.
Thanks for the quirky humorous story!
If these restaurants claim that these filthy, rent-free, public space-usurping shanties give them more business, they can easily open up another restaurant if they want to. There are TONS of empty stores in the village that they can rent.