The curbside seating that David Steingard created in 2015 at Laughing Man has been disassembled along with the rest of the city’s roadway dining structures. Though this case could and should have been special: It was always open to the public as more of a parklet, and many in the neighborhood used it as a meeting spot, coffee or no. (Thanks to C. for the action shot.) (And yes, it was sometimes annoying to walk through there because of the crowds. But I’d take that over a dead neighborhood.)

It was originally part of a now-defunct Department of Transportation program called Street Seats, which “transformed underused streets into vibrant, social public spaces between the months of March through December.” But as James Bogardus noted in a comment, Laughing Man had not been listed as part of the program since August 2021. (There are only three Street Seats in Manhattan — one at the Chelsea Market, one on King Street and one on Broome.)

Once the covid-era Open Restaurants program began, now it’s called Dining Out NYC, Laughing Man was able to keep the set up as-is and in fact bar it to all except his customers, but David never enforced that rule.

Maybe there can be some sort of effort to reinstate the original Street Seats area and its intent — that it be open to the public. The DOT’s website said new program details will be released in late 2024.