By Josh Williams
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT — For struggling restaurants on Front Street in the historic Fulton Fish Market district survival could be a matter of inches — literally.
Restaurants that want to provide al fresco dining need to have 12 feet of sidewalk from their doorway to the curb, as required by city regulations. But near the old seaport, a historically protected neighborhood with strict development guidelines and narrow and uneven sidewalks, some eateries that want to offer an outdoor option would come up 6 inches short.
“I invite any city official down here to take a look and see how much sidewalk cafés would benefit this street and the community,” said Fernando Dallorso, owner of Stella Restaurant on Front Street. "The money alone from the application and permit process from this street would add nearly $100,000 in revenue for the city.”
One block south of the South Street Seaport there are numerous outdoor dining options, as well as music and other entertainment. Over the summer, for example, Puma will sponsor a giant outdoor screen for people to watch World Cup soccer matches.
“The situation on Front Street is desperate,” said Dallorso, who feels that the tough times are a combination of the financial crisis and the horrible weather in recent months. “If we were allowed sidewalk permits on this street it would solve our financial situation almost instantly.”
Meeting city requirements is more complicated in the historically protected area.
“There are very strict requirements because of this, as well there should be, but the city should consider that because this is an historical district — different space requirements would work here,” said Dallorso, who is originally from Argentina. “Front Street is caught in a bureaucratic black hole.”
Dallorso hired Steve Wygota, an architect who has worked on more than 300 sidewalk café permits.
“If you don’t have the 12-foot minimum sidewalk space requirement box checked, they wont even look at your application," Wygota said. "On Front Street, they have 11 feet 6 inches in most places."
Wygota hopes the Department of Consumer Affairs can sign a variance permitting Stella to offer outdoor dining.
But the DCA does not make exceptions to the sidewalk space requirements.
In the meantime, Dallorso and other Front Street restaurateurs are working on developing a food festival, similar to the Taste of Tribeca, that would be held in the fall that would help the struggling restaurants and a new school being built on Beekman Street.
“It’s a win-win situation, the revenue could help the kids,” said Claudio Marini, who is the owner of Barbarini an Italian café on Front Street. “If you take a look around here it is magnificent, everything is preserved and wonderful, if you add the street cafés it would be like Roma.”
