In N.Y.C., Bars Are Open on the Sidewalk

But as the crowds grow, proper social distancing is not always possible. Ernesto’s Café, on the Lower East Side, encourages customers to use the park across the street. Patrons of Grand Army, in Brooklyn, have been using closed-off State Street as a patio. And the Factory 380 will send customers on an around-the-block “walktail” stroll. By the time they make the circuit, they’re ready for another round.

Observing safety guidelines while not alienating customers can be tricky. “You ask them to move, they’ll move,” said John Hayes, the owner of Doc Watson’s, on the Upper East Side. “But they’re not going to disappear. You don’t want the last thing they remember is you chased them away.”

For bars, whose business models have turned upside-down since the shutdown began, adjust and adapt is the name of the game. Basquiat’s Bottle, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, was an art- and nightlife-oriented place before Covid-19, going into the wee hours. It’s now open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has had increased food sales.

Before the shutdown, Harlem Hops sold two to three crowlers a week (a crowler is like a growler, but in jumbo-can format). Now it sells 30 to 35 a day.

Just as bar owners are figuring out the new landscape as they go, the people they serve have discovered new advantages to the arrangement.

“During this time of year, sometimes I prefer an outside bar or rooftop, or a place by the water,” said Robert Cabo, 29, an architect and a regular at the Factory 380. “Now, because this is happening, I have no reason not to come here.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/dining/drinks/outdoor-bars-nyc-coronavirus.html