The main thoroughfare of Chinatown, Mott St., has been turned into a multi-restaurant “dining corridor.”
With over 22 streets currently closed to cars on weekends to make way for expanded outdoor dining, Mott St. in Chinatown is the latest to be totally transformed into an outdoor dining patio. It’s part of the NYC Hospitality Alliance’s new “DineOut” initiative, which provides “kits” of adaptable outdoor dining set-ups free of charge for restaurants that have been hit hard by the pandemic.
Mott St. has been shut down to traffic between Mosco and Worth Streets, and is now full of specially designed open-air cafe kits, including tables with dividers and awnings, designed by the Rockwell Group to operate under the current health guidelines and for diners to feel safe and comfortable.
There are at least 10 participating restaurants, including NYC institution Wo Hop, Wok Wok offering Malaysia and Thailand cuisine, and seafood restaurant Ping. The dining area is now open for lunch and dinner.
The set-up has also come at no-cost to Chinatown and its businesses thanks to Moët Hennessy, Resy and parent company American Express, with additional support provided by The Pershing Square Foundation, Daniel Stern, the co-founder of Reservoir Capital Group, Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch and Nina and Tim Zagat.
The model has already been used at specific restaurants like Melba’s in Harlem and Ceetay in the South Bronx, and it will be expanding to another full street in Queens next.
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featured image source: Emily Andrews for Rockwell Group