Last year at this time, the Delta variant of COVID-19 was brewing, and in May 2021, it became official. People were used to eating outside in parking spots called “parklets,” which were created by using orange water-filled “jersey barriers” to surround tables and chairs for diners to eat outside of a restaurant. The water made the barriers heavy, so they were not moved by casual pushing.
Most of Beacon’s restaurants opted into the parklets, and Mayor Kyriacou waved any fee for having them. They were purchased by the City in part with money the City of Beacon earned through some film permits, as stated by City Administrator Chris White during some City Council Meetings.
The people who were comfortable eating in the street filled up the parklets most weekends. While Beacon citizens were mixed on if they would park their bodies in a parklet, those who wanted to eat outside to feel safer than eating indoors appreciated the choice. Restaurants appreciated the additional seating and additional revenue the parklet seating could provide.
Abruptly In September 2021, the City of Beacon told restaurant owners they had to pull the parklets in a matter of days in order to prepare for the paving of Main Street. Joe Robitaille, owner of Homespun, remembers working on a Sunday to dismantle his shaded structure he had designed to beautify the parklet, recalling: “The City told us we had to remove the parklet by Monday, and we had one weekend to do this. Sunday is a busy day for us on the weekend, but to comply, I dedicated myself to taking down the parklet and not helping my staff serve customers.”
Homespun was not the only one who invested in upgraded porches and designs for the parklets. Neighbor Ziatun had a patio, and Sukhothai also built out a structure. Several other restaurants adorned their plastic barriers with flowers. September in Beacon usually brings beautiful weather, with a boom in sales for the Columbus Day Weekend in October (now known as Indigenous People’s Day). Seating was lost for the weeks leading up to that October holiday weekend, including that weekend itself. And then the paving of Beacon’s Main Street was canceled, putting in question the early pulling of the parklets. The previous year, the parklets were pulled in November.
A Little Beacon Blog reached out to the City Administrator Chris White, Mayor Lee Kyriacou as well as Councilmember George Mansfield, who is a restaurant owner, to gain insight on if the City Council had discussed the parklets with themselves, the public or business owners. Councilmember George responded: “There has been no discussion at Council regarding the parklets. I assume they will not be back due to scheduled repaving of Main Street and the fact that there is no longer any state mandates limiting indoor occupancy for the hospitality industry.”
City Administrator Chris did indicate in a recent City Council meeting that paving would begin on Main Street soon. When ALBB asked about a start date, Councilmember George did not know, stating that there were several “moving parts” to organizing paving. City Administrator White and Mayor Kyriacou did not respond by publishing time.
Safety Of Parklets
The public was mixed on the safety of parklets, yet the seats remained full. Traffic and speeding in Beacon is a known issue. On Mother’s Day, two cars collided in the middle of Main Street, avoiding the parklets but jumping the curb to land on the sidewalk to hit a grandmother and pin a child. Months later, another grandmother was hit and killed by a local driver in the crosswalk while the grandmother correctly crossed the street at Teller and Main Street because the driver was blinded by the afternoon sun, according to the police report. An 11 year old girl was hit in the crosswalk at Verplanck Avenue and Matteawan after school let out while correctly crossing the street on her bike because the driver “thought she had passed already,” the child told A Little Beacon Blog (interview to come).
After the parklets were pulled, some readers wrote into A Little Beacon Blog, asking if the parklets were returning, as they preferred eating outdoors and did not mind the location of the parklet. Some people who are in favor of a “walkable Main Street” are in favor of the parklets to naturally slow down traffic. Unless the police chime in after the publishing of this article, there have been no reports of people in parklets being hit. However, there have been several reports of people in crosswalks and walking on Main Street being hit.
Restaurants Respond
After being told by the City of Beacon that there was no plan as of yet for the parklets, Joe of Homespun had this to say about the loss of parklets, despite him having sidewalk seating in front and patio seating in back: “I think it will make it tough on restaurants in town. For us with the garden backyard, it was always over-flow seating anyways, and would fill up after the garden was fully seated. But for smaller places with tinier dining rooms, it provided a big shot in the arm. Hopefully the public is really ready to dine inside again.”
Marko Guzijan, owner of the Hudson Valley Food Hall, which has several food vendors stationed inside with plenty of seating including an outdoor patio had this to say about the parklets: “It’s not surprising. In truth, it won’t effect our business much. It may actually help as we already have private outdoor seating and now people who aren’t comfortable sitting inside will have less options in Beacon (this is especially true for families of young kids who can’t get a vaccine). But we don’t want to see our business improve beacuse other Beacon businesses are hindered.
“No parklet seating, plus the increase in energy bills is going to hurt many Main Street business. Again, the chefs in the Food Hall will probably make more money, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s the right decision. I’m curious as to why the City Council of Beacon thinks this is a good idea, while New York City continues to have outdoor seating to try to help their food and beverage businesses? As of yet, they haven’t communicated with any of the businesses in the Food Hall to explain their decision.”
As of now, there have been no public discussions during City Council Meetings about the parklets. Peekskill recently indicated they are considering removing some of their parklets, and some members of the Peekskill public have started a petition to keep them. This report at News12 quotes some business owners who benefited from the parklets.
Editorial Disclaimer: Homespun was a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog and is a website client, and Hudson Valley Food Hall is a sponsor of A Little Beacon Blog. Their views do not influence content, but our relationship does make understanding their issues easier.
