Blogger NYC Blocks, aka David Crohn, provides us with the play-by-play of Keith McNally's run-in with Community Board 2 regarding his bid to offer sidewalk seating at Morandi. Spoiler: He got the permits but didn't need them in the first place.
Famed restaurateur Keith McNally—he of Pastis in the Meatpacking District and Balthazar in SoHo—had planned to have some 50 tables and twice as many chairs in the sidewalk café at Morandi, his new Mecca of posh just off Seventh Avenue South. The entrepreneur ended up with less than half that after locals came out to voice their concerns at two community meetings...McNally for Mayor? Who's in?Late in the proceedings, just before the permit was approved, it was revealed that, since the sidewalk café will be within the building’s property line and not actually on public property after all, McNally didn’t even need a permit. But, as a local himself, he went ahead with the process just as a gesture of goodwill. The rumpled Brit’s mensch rating went through the roof.
· McNally Compromises With Residents Over Morandi Sidewalk Cafe [NYC Blocks]
· Morandi Fever: Reports from Day One [~E~]
